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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 40 · 2014

4 results

An oxytocin-induced facilitation of neural and emotional responses to social touch correlates inversely with autism traits.

Scheele D, Kendrick KM, Khouri C, Kretzer E, Schläpfer TE, Stoffel-Wagner B, Güntürkün O, Maier W, Hurlemann R

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2 Apr 2014Cited by 145 (Europe PMC)

PMID24694924 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC4104346 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1038/npp.2014.78 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-24694924
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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 heterosexual men, a single intranasal dose of oxytocin increased the perceived pleasantness of touch believed to come from a woman, versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn heterosexual men, one oxytocin dose made touch they believed came from a woman feel more pleasant than placebo did.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreasePerceived pleasantness of female touch
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Sensory perception · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OXT increased the perceived pleasantness of female, but not male touch
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    The present randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed to test the hypothesis that a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) would facilitate both neural and emotional responses to interpersonal touch in a conte…
    Summary · context
    Thus, 40 heterosexual males believed that they were touched by either a man or a woman, although in fact an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same female experimenter blind to condition type.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In heterosexual men, a single intranasal dose of oxytocin did not increase the perceived pleasantness of touch believed to come from a man, versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn heterosexual men, one oxytocin dose did not make touch they believed came from a man feel more pleasant than placebo did.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changePerceived pleasantness of male touch
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Sensory perception · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OXT increased the perceived pleasantness of female, but not male touch
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    The present randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed to test the hypothesis that a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) would facilitate both neural and emotional responses to interpersonal touch in a conte…
    Summary · context
    Thus, 40 heterosexual males believed that they were touched by either a man or a woman, although in fact an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same female experimenter blind to condition type.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In heterosexual men, oxytocin increased neural responses to touch believed to come from a woman in the insula, precuneus, orbitofrontal and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn heterosexual men, oxytocin raised activity in several brain areas during touch they believed came from a woman, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseNeural responses to female touch
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    and associated neural responses in insula, precuneus, orbitofrontal, and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    The present randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed to test the hypothesis that a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) would facilitate both neural and emotional responses to interpersonal touch in a conte…
    Summary · context
    Thus, 40 heterosexual males believed that they were touched by either a man or a woman, although in fact an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same female experimenter blind to condition type.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In heterosexual men, the behavioral and neural effects of oxytocin on touch were negatively correlated with autistic-like traits.

    In plain wordsIn heterosexual men, men with more autistic-like traits showed smaller oxytocin effects on touch responses.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableAssociation of oxytocin effects with autistic-like traits
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Social behavior and cognition · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Moreover, the behavioral and neural effects of OXT were negatively correlated with autistic-like traits.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    The present randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed to test the hypothesis that a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) would facilitate both neural and emotional responses to interpersonal touch in a conte…
    Summary · context
    Thus, 40 heterosexual males believed that they were touched by either a man or a woman, although in fact an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same female experimenter blind to condition type.

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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