Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 40 · 2013

4 results

Oxytocin enhances pupil dilation and sensitivity to 'hidden' emotional expressions.

Leknes S, Wessberg J, Ellingsen DM, Chelnokova O, Olausson H, Laeng B

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience29 May 2012Cited by 94 (Europe PMC)

PMID22648957PMCIDPMC3791062DOI10.1093/scan/nss062PepBankPUB-22648957

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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: CC BY-NC. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study4

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

01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In healthy volunteers, a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced evaluative processing of positive and negative facial expressions, explicit and hidden, versus placebo.
In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, a single dose of oxytocin sharpened how people judged emotions on faces, compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseEvaluation of explicit and hidden emotional expressions
Study
n = 40
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
40 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Forty healthy volunteers participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information.
Report a problemFND-2264895701
02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy volunteers, intranasal oxytocin treatment enhanced stimulus-induced pupil dilation versus placebo.
In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, oxytocin increased pupil widening in response to faces, compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseStimulus-induced pupil dilation
Study
n = 40
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
40 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Overall, oxytocin treatment enhanced stimulus-induced pupil dilation, consistent with oxytocin enhancement of attention towards socially relevant stimuli.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Forty healthy volunteers participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information.
Report a problemFND-2264895702
03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In healthy volunteers, baseline emotional sensitivity predicted the oxytocin effect on sensing hidden emotional differences, and participants with low sensitivity showed greater improvement.
In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, people with low emotional sensitivity at the start improved more with oxytocin.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
MixedOxytocin effect by baseline emotional sensitivity
Study
n = 40
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
40 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Importantly, individual differences in baseline emotional sensitivity predicted oxytocin's effects on the ability to sense differences between faces with hidden emotional information. Participants with low emotional sensitivity showed greater oxytocin-induced improvement.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Forty healthy volunteers participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information.
Report a problemFND-2264895703
04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy volunteers, participants with low emotional sensitivity also showed larger task-related pupil dilation.
In plain wordsIn healthy volunteers, those with low emotional sensitivity showed larger pupil widening during the task.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseTask-related pupil dilation in low emotional sensitivity participants
Study
n = 40
Outcome group
Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
40 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
These participants also showed larger task-related pupil dilation, suggesting that they also allocated the most attentional resources to the task.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Forty healthy volunteers participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, which shows that a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (40 IU) enhanced or 'sharpened' evaluative processing of others' positive and negative facial expression for both explicit and hidden emotional information.
Report a problemFND-2264895704

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

Registered trials2

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

2 trials · 2 completed · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

CompletedPhase 1/2NCT02414503

Effects of Intranasal Administration of a Single Dose of Oxytocin Using a Novel Device in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder

OptiNose ASn = 17Apr 2015 to Feb 2016

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Trial page ClinicalTrials.govUpdated 27 Sept 2016

CompletedPhase 1NCT01983514

Effects of Intranasal Administration of a Single Dose of Oxytocin Using a Novel Device in Healthy Adults

OptiNose ASn = 19Oct 2013 to Feb 2014

Healthy Male Adults

Trial page ClinicalTrials.govUpdated 23 Apr 2014

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, 01:30 UTC
Study results updated
Version 1
9 Oct 2026, 02:49 UTC
First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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