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Study · Systematic review · n = 381 · 2013

5 results

The impact of a single administration of intranasal oxytocin on the recognition of basic emotions in humans: a meta-analysis.

Shahrestani S, Kemp AH, Guastella AJ

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology10 Apr 2013Cited by 218 (Europe PMC)

PMID23575742 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC3746698 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1038/npp.2013.86 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-23575742
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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 study5

5 results from studies that gave the peptide. 5 results from people.

  1. 01HumanSystematic reviewEfficacy outcome

    In humans, a single intranasal dose of oxytocin improved overall emotion recognition from faces (Hedges g 0.29).

    In plain wordsIn people pooled across studies, one nasal dose of oxytocin improved overall recognition of emotions in faces.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseEmotion recognition from faces, overall
    Study

    n = 381

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasal · single administrationAs given in this study (human).

    Measurements

    Hedges g
    0.29
    overall emotion recognition

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Results showed that intranasal OT administration enhances emotion recognition of faces overall, with a Hedges g effect size of 0.29.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face.
  2. 02HumanSystematic reviewEfficacy outcome

    In humans, intranasal oxytocin significantly improved recognition accuracy for happy faces.

    In plain wordsIn people pooled across studies, nasal oxytocin improved recognition of happy faces.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRecognition of happy faces
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasal · single administrationAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    significant effects of OT on recognition accuracy were specifically found for the recognition of happy and fear faces
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face.
  3. 03HumanSystematic reviewEfficacy outcome

    In humans, intranasal oxytocin significantly improved recognition accuracy for fear faces.

    In plain wordsIn people pooled across studies, nasal oxytocin improved recognition of fearful faces.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRecognition of fear faces
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasal · single administrationAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    significant effects of OT on recognition accuracy were specifically found for the recognition of happy and fear faces
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face.
  4. 04HumanSystematic reviewEfficacy outcome

    In humans, intranasal oxytocin had no significant effect on recognition accuracy for angry, surprise, disgust or sadness faces.

    In plain wordsIn people pooled across studies, nasal oxytocin did not significantly change recognition of angry, surprised, disgusted or sad faces.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeRecognition of other expressions (angry, surprise, disgust, sadness)
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasal · single administrationAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    When analysis was restricted to facial expression types, significant effects of OT on recognition accuracy were specifically found for the recognition of happy and fear faces.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face.
  5. 05HumanSystematic reviewEfficacy outcome

    Oxytocin effect sizes became moderate for early-phase (under 300 ms) recognition of happy and angry faces and for later-phase (over 300 ms) recognition of fear faces.

    In plain wordsIn people pooled across studies, the effect of nasal oxytocin grew larger for certain faces depending on how long the face was shown.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseEffect of photograph exposure time on emotion recognition
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasal · single administrationAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    We also found that effect sizes increased to moderate when exposure time of the photograph was restricted to early phase recognition ( 300 ms).
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies comprising 381 research participants (71 females) examining responses to the basic emotion types to assess whether OT enhances the recognition of emotion from human faces and whether this was influenced by the emotion expression and exposure time of the face.

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

CompletedPhase 2NCT06945926

The Effect of Oxytocin Nasal Spray on Preventing Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Surgery

Zhejiang Universityn = 2271 Jun 2025 to 2 Jun 2026

Cervical Spinal Stenosis · Thoracic Spinal Stenosis · Lumbar Spinal Stenosis · Rotator Cuff Injury · Femoral Head Necrosis · Spinal Trauma · Knee Joint Injury

Trial pageClinicalTrials.govUpdated 20 Aug 2026

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

    9 Oct 2026, 18:17 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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