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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 44 · 2013

3 results

The effect of intranasal oxytocin treatment on conditioned fear extinction and recall in a healthy human sample.

Acheson D, Feifel D, de Wilde S, McKinney R, Lohr J, Risbrough V

Psychopharmacology5 May 2013Cited by 116 (Europe PMC)

PMID23644911 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC5458114 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1007/s00213-013-3099-4 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-23644911
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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 study3

3 results from studies that gave the peptide. 3 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy adults, intranasal oxytocin increased fear-potentiated startle responding during the earliest stage of extinction training versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy adults, oxytocin led to a stronger startle fear response early in extinction training than placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseFear-potentiated startle during early extinction training
    Study

    n = 44

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Anxiety and mood · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Relative to placebo, the OT group showed increased fear-potentiated startle responding during the earliest stage of extinction training relative to placebo; however, all treatment groups showed the same level of reduced responding by the end of extinction training.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 44 healthy human participants was conducted. Participants underwent a conditioned fear acquisition procedure, after which they were randomized to treatment group and delivered OT (24 IU) or placebo via intranasal (IN) spray.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy adults, startle responding was reduced to the same level in the oxytocin and placebo groups by the end of extinction training.

    In plain wordsIn healthy adults, oxytocin and placebo groups showed the same reduced fear response by the end of training.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeFear-potentiated startle at end of extinction training
    Study

    n = 44

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Anxiety and mood · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    however, all treatment groups showed the same level of reduced responding by the end of extinction training.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 44 healthy human participants was conducted. Participants underwent a conditioned fear acquisition procedure, after which they were randomized to treatment group and delivered OT (24 IU) or placebo via intranasal (IN) spray.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy adults, oxytocin produced significantly higher recall of fear extinction 24 hours later than placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy adults, oxytocin led to better recall of extinction learning a day later than placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseExtinction recall at 24 hours
    Study

    n = 44

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Anxiety and mood · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Twenty-four hours later, the OT group showed significantly higher recall of extinction relative to placebo.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 44 healthy human participants was conducted. Participants underwent a conditioned fear acquisition procedure, after which they were randomized to treatment group and delivered OT (24 IU) or placebo via intranasal (IN) spray.

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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