Oxytocin attenuates amygdala responses to emotional faces regardless of valence.

Domes G, Heinrichs M, Gläscher J, Büchel C, Braus DF, Herpertz SC

Biological psychiatry9 Jul 2007Cited by 588 (Europe PMC)

PMID17617382DOI10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.025PepBankPUB-17617382

Publisher page PubMedAsk about this study

Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study2

2 results from studies that gave the peptide. 2 results from people.

01HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In an exploratory whole-brain analysis, intranasal oxytocin modulated responses in prefrontal and temporal areas and the brainstem compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn a brain scan study, oxytocin spray changed activity in some other brain areas compared with placebo; this analysis was exploratory.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Direction not reportedExploratory whole-brain responses to emotional faces
Study
n: not reported in source
Comparator
Placebo
Analysis
Exploratory
Outcome group
Anxiety and mood · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Exploratory whole brain analysis revealed modulatory effects in prefrontal and temporal areas as well as in the brainstem.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject design, we measured neural responses to fearful, angry, and happy facial expressions after intranasal application of 24 IU oxytocin compared with placebo.
Report a problemFND-1761738202
02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In a within-subject fMRI study, intranasal oxytocin reduced right-sided amygdala responses to fearful, angry and happy faces compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn a brain scan study, oxytocin spray lowered right amygdala responses to all three kinds of faces compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
DecreaseRight amygdala response to fearful, angry and happy faces
Study
n: not reported in source
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Anxiety and mood · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Oxytocin reduced right-sided amygdala responses to all three face categories even when the emotional content of the presented face was not evaluated explicitly.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study using a double-blind, placebo-controlled within-subject design, we measured neural responses to fearful, angry, and happy facial expressions after intranasal application of 24 IU oxytocin compared with placebo.
Report a problemFND-1761738201

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Registered trials1

Trials this study reports on, or that list this study as a reference. Registry data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

1 trial · 1 completed · 1 with posted results · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

CompletedPhase 1Results postedNCT01834261

Brain Dynamics of Oxytocin

Stony Brook Universityn = 51Apr 2013 to May 2015

Brain Dynamics in Healthy Adults

Trial page ClinicalTrials.govUpdated 17 Mar 2017

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

Version 2Current
11 Oct 2026, 20:03 UTC
Study results updated
Version 1
9 Oct 2026, 02:50 UTC
First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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MeSH terms

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