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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 21 · 2015

4 results

A single dose of oxytocin nasal spray improves higher-order social cognition in schizophrenia.

Guastella AJ, Ward PB, Hickie IB, Shahrestani S, Hodge MA, Scott EM, Langdon R

Schizophrenia research3 Jul 2015Cited by 53 (Europe PMC)

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 men with schizophrenia, a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray improved performance on higher-order social cognition tasks compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men with schizophrenia, one dose of oxytocin spray improved higher-order social thinking tasks compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseHigher-order social cognition
    Study

    n = 21

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Results revealed that oxytocin particularly enhanced performance on higher order social cognition tasks, with no effects on general neurocognition.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Twenty-one male patients received both a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray (24IU) and a placebo, two weeks apart in a randomized within-subjects placebo controlled design.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In men with schizophrenia, a single dose of oxytocin had no effect on general neurocognition compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men with schizophrenia, one dose of oxytocin spray did not change general thinking ability compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeGeneral neurocognition
    Study

    n = 21

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Results revealed that oxytocin particularly enhanced performance on higher order social cognition tasks, with no effects on general neurocognition.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Twenty-one male patients received both a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray (24IU) and a placebo, two weeks apart in a randomized within-subjects placebo controlled design.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In men with schizophrenia, oxytocin showed most improvement on a test of appreciation of indirect hints.

    In plain wordsIn men with schizophrenia, oxytocin spray improved understanding of indirect hints most among the tests.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseAppreciation of indirect hints
    Study

    n = 21

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Results for individual tasks showed most improvement on tests measuring appreciation of indirect hints and recognition of social faux pas.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Twenty-one male patients received both a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray (24IU) and a placebo, two weeks apart in a randomized within-subjects placebo controlled design.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In men with schizophrenia, oxytocin showed most improvement on a test of recognition of social faux pas.

    In plain wordsIn men with schizophrenia, oxytocin spray improved recognition of social slip-ups most among the tests.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRecognition of social faux pas
    Study

    n = 21

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Results for individual tasks showed most improvement on tests measuring appreciation of indirect hints and recognition of social faux pas.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Twenty-one male patients received both a single dose of oxytocin nasal spray (24IU) and a placebo, two weeks apart in a randomized within-subjects placebo controlled design.

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, 02:49 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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