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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 50 · 2010

4 results

Oxytocin improves specific recognition of positive facial expressions.

Marsh AA, Yu HH, Pine DS, Blair RJ

Psychopharmacology26 Feb 2010Cited by 202 (Europe PMC)

PMID20186397 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1007/s00213-010-1780-4 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-20186397
Publisher pagePubMedAsk about this study
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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 study4

4 results from studies that gave the peptide. 4 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy volunteers, intranasal oxytocin significantly improved recognition of happy facial expressions compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, oxytocin nasal spray improved recognition of happy faces more than placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRecognition of happy facial expressions
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin significantly and specifically improved the recognition of happy facial expressions
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, between-groups design was used, with 50 volunteers randomly assigned to receive intranasally administered oxytocin or placebo.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy volunteers, intranasal oxytocin did not significantly change recognition of other facial expressions compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, oxytocin nasal spray did not change recognition of other facial expressions compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeRecognition of other facial expressions
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    no significant differences in recognition of other expression were found.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, between-groups design was used, with 50 volunteers randomly assigned to receive intranasally administered oxytocin or placebo.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy volunteers, the oxytocin improvement in recognizing facial expressions was most pronounced for subtle expressions.

    In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, the gain from oxytocin nasal spray was biggest for faces showing subtle expressions.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseImprovement most pronounced for subtle expressions
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    it was most pronounced for subtle expressions.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, between-groups design was used, with 50 volunteers randomly assigned to receive intranasally administered oxytocin or placebo.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In healthy volunteers, the oxytocin-related improvement in expression recognition was not associated with gender, response biases or changes in mood.

    In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, the gain from oxytocin nasal spray was not linked to gender, response bias or mood changes.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeAssociation of improvement with gender, response bias and mood
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    The improvement was not associated with gender, response biases, or changes in mood
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, between-groups design was used, with 50 volunteers randomly assigned to receive intranasally administered oxytocin or placebo.

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

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.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 01:30 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. 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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