An interventional study of Oxytocin nasal spray and Placebo in Healthy, sponsored by University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-10-06.
Sponsored by University of Electronic Science and Technology of China · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
The presnet study is to investigate the effect of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) treatment on modulating how human responsd to threat in a dynamic situation.
Predator-prey interactions are inherently dynamic, requiring adaptive responses from prey to survive. Altough there is eviedence for oxytocin modulating anxiety and fear responses to threats, it remains unclear whether oxytocin (OT) would modulate how humans respond to threats along the predatory imminence continuum to facilitate escape during such interactions. Our study therefore focuses on this question by combining behavioralmeasures, skin conductance response, and fMRI in a dynamic predator-prey interaction paradigm. In this double-blind, between-subject, placebo-controlled study, participants are instructed to escape by evaluating the relative distance between themselves (i.e., the prey), the predator (slow, medium and high attacking speed) and the refuge. The MRI and Biopac electrophysiological acquisition systems are used in the study to collect subjects' brain activity and skin conductance response. Participants are also asked to rate their confidence and anxiety levels during performing the task. We will aslo examine the resulted patterns of flight initiation distance (FID) and distance to refuge (DTR) when the prey fled from different predators. Scores of questionnaires including Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-Ⅱ, Autism Spectrum Quotient, Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, General Risk Propensity Scale are also collected before the experiment.
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China is the lead sponsor of 109 studies on the registry; 35 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
male and female subjects with oxytocin treatment
Drug: Oxytocin nasal spray
male and female subjects with placebo treatment
Drug: Placebo
intranasal administration of oxytocin (24 IU)
intranasal administration of placebo (24 IU)
Escape sucess rates when confronting different predators
Escape sucess rates in successfully entering the refuge when confronting the fast, medium and slow predators.
Time frame: 1 hour
Flight initiation distance
It is the prey-predator distance when a prey flees from a threat, a key index quantifying escape decisions.
Time frame: 1 hour
The distance to refuge
The distance to refuge when a prey flees from a threat.
Time frame: 1 hour
Brain activity patterns in response to threats along the predatory imminence continuum
Brain activity patterns in response to different predators along the predatory imminence continuum. We will examine these brain response patterns via both the conventional univariate analysis and the machine learning-based multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) approaches. Based on previous studies, the medium predator is a priori used as an anchor for fast and slow predators for a more sensitive measure of brain activity differences and contrasts with the medium predator would be reported in the suplemental files for completeness (if there were significant effects).
Time frame: 1 hour
Confidence rating scores
Participants are asked to rate their confidence levels in successfully escaping from the predator before each block.
Time frame: 1 hour
Anxiety rating scores
Particioants are asked to rate how anxious they felt during the escape decision-making process.
Time frame: 1 hour
SCR during task
Skin Conductance Response (SCR) data are recorded in the task during scanning.
Time frame: 1 hour
Plan to share: No
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University of Electronic Science and Technology of China