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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 72 · 2016

4 results

Intranasal oxytocin enhances neural processing of monetary reward and loss in post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatized controls.

Nawijn L, van Zuiden M, Koch SB, Frijling JL, Veltman DJ, Olff M

Psychoneuroendocrinology22 Jan 2016Cited by 49 (Europe PMC)

PMID26851698 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.01.020 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-26851698
Publisher pagePubMedAsk about this study
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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 trialMechanism

    In police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin increased striatal neural responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss.

    In plain wordsIn police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin raised brain activity in the striatum while they expected money gains or losses.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseStriatal neural response during reward and loss anticipation
    Study

    n = 72

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    40 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin increased neural responses during reward and loss anticipation in PTSD patients and controls in the striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and insula, key regions in the reward pathway.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    35 police officers with PTSD (21 males) and 37 trauma-exposed police officers without PTSD (19 males) were included in a within-subjects, randomized, placebo-controlled fMRI study.
    Summary · context
    Neural responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss were investigated with a monetary incentive delay task (MID) after placebo and oxytocin (40 IU) administration.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin increased dorsal anterior cingulate cortex responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss.

    In plain wordsIn police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin raised activity in a brain area, the dorsal anterior cingulate, while they expected money gains or losses.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseDorsal anterior cingulate cortex response during reward and loss anticipation
    Study

    n = 72

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    40 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin increased neural responses during reward and loss anticipation in PTSD patients and controls in the striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and insula, key regions in the reward pathway.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    35 police officers with PTSD (21 males) and 37 trauma-exposed police officers without PTSD (19 males) were included in a within-subjects, randomized, placebo-controlled fMRI study.
    Summary · context
    Neural responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss were investigated with a monetary incentive delay task (MID) after placebo and oxytocin (40 IU) administration.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin increased insula responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss.

    In plain wordsIn police officers with and without PTSD, oxytocin raised brain activity in the insula while they expected money gains or losses.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseInsula response during reward and loss anticipation
    Study

    n = 72

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    40 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin increased neural responses during reward and loss anticipation in PTSD patients and controls in the striatum, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and insula, key regions in the reward pathway.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    35 police officers with PTSD (21 males) and 37 trauma-exposed police officers without PTSD (19 males) were included in a within-subjects, randomized, placebo-controlled fMRI study.
    Summary · context
    Neural responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss were investigated with a monetary incentive delay task (MID) after placebo and oxytocin (40 IU) administration.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In PTSD patients, oxytocin effects on reward processing in the ventral striatum were positively associated with anhedonia.

    In plain wordsIn people with PTSD, the size of the oxytocin effect on a brain reward area was linked to how strong their anhedonia was.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableAssociation of oxytocin effect on ventral striatum reward processing with anhedonia
    Study

    n = 35

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    40 IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Furthermore, oxytocin effects on reward processing in the ventral striatum were positively associated with anhedonia.
    2 context sentences
    Summary · context
    35 police officers with PTSD (21 males) and 37 trauma-exposed police officers without PTSD (19 males) were included in a within-subjects, randomized, placebo-controlled fMRI study.
    Summary · context
    Neural responses during anticipation of monetary reward and loss were investigated with a monetary incentive delay task (MID) after placebo and oxytocin (40 IU) administration.

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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