Skip to content

Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 28 · 2017

4 results

Intranasal oxytocin reduces social perception in women: Neural activation and individual variation.

Hecht EE, Robins DL, Gautam P, King TZ

NeuroImage16 Dec 2016Cited by 21 (Europe PMC)

PMID27989775 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.12.046 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-27989775
Publisher pagePubMedAsk about this study
Jump to 4 results

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 women viewing social animations, intranasal oxytocin reduced activation in early visual cortex and dorsal-stream motion processing regions for the social > size contrast, compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn women, nasal oxytocin lowered brain activity in visual areas tied to social attention, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseActivation in early visual cortex and dorsal-stream motion regions, social > size contrast
    Study

    n = 28

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin reduced activation in early visual cortex and dorsal-stream motion processing regions for the social > size contrast, indicating reduced activity related to social attention.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved an all-female sample of 28 women not using hormonal contraception.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In women, intranasal oxytocin reduced endorsements that shapes were friends or not friends, compared with placebo.

    In plain wordsIn women, nasal oxytocin reduced how often shapes were judged as friends or not friends, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseEndorsements of shapes as friends or not friends
    Study

    n = 28

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin also reduced endorsements that shapes were "friends" or "not friends," and this significantly correlated with reduction in neural activation.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved an all-female sample of 28 women not using hormonal contraception.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In women, the oxytocin-related reduction in friend and not-friend endorsements correlated significantly with the reduction in neural activation.

    In plain wordsIn women, the drop in friend judgments after nasal oxytocin matched the drop in brain activity.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableCorrelation of reduced endorsements with reduced neural activation
    Study

    n = 28

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Oxytocin also reduced endorsements that shapes were "friends" or "not friends," and this significantly correlated with reduction in neural activation.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved an all-female sample of 28 women not using hormonal contraception.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In women, those who perceived fewer social relationships at baseline were more likely to show oxytocin-induced increases in a broad network of social perception and cognition regions.

    In plain wordsIn women, those who saw fewer social relationships at baseline were more likely to show increased brain activity after nasal oxytocin.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseOxytocin-induced neural increases by baseline social perception
    Study

    n = 28

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Furthermore, participants who perceived fewer social relationships at baseline were more likely to show oxytocin-induced increases in a broad network of regions involved in social perception and social cognition, suggesting that lower social processing at baseline may predict more positive neural responses to oxytocin.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved an all-female sample of 28 women not using hormonal contraception.

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.

PepBank is a research reference. Talk to a doctor before you use any peptide.