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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 52 · 2017

6 results

Oxytocin effects on self-referential processing: behavioral and neuroimaging evidence.

Liu Y, Wu B, Wang X, Li W, Zhang T, Wu X, Han S

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience1 Dec 2017Cited by 13 (Europe PMC)

PMID29040763 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC5716198 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1093/scan/nsx116 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-29040763
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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: CC BY-NC. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study6

6 results from studies that gave the peptide. 6 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In male adults, oxytocin increased right superior frontal activity during memory retrieval of self-related information versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men, oxytocin raised activity in a frontal brain region while they recalled words about themselves, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRight superior frontal activity during retrieval of self-related information (Experiment 3)
    Study

    n = 52

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Experiment 3 (N = 52) revealed that OT vs placebo treatments increased the right superior frontal activity during memory retrieval of self-related information.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In male adults, oxytocin reduced response times during encoding of self-related trait adjectives versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men, oxytocin shortened reaction times when they judged trait words about themselves, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseResponse time during encoding of self-related trait adjectives (Experiment 1)
    Study

    n = 51

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Experiment 1 (N = 51) found that OT vs placebo treatments reduced response times during encoding self-related trait adjectives but increased recognition scores of self-related information during memory retrieval.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In male adults, oxytocin increased recognition scores of self-related information during memory retrieval versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men, oxytocin raised how well they recognised words about themselves, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseRecognition score for self-related information at retrieval (Experiment 1)
    Study

    n = 51

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Experiment 1 (N = 51) found that OT vs placebo treatments reduced response times during encoding self-related trait adjectives but increased recognition scores of self-related information during memory retrieval.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.
  4. 04HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In male adults in a second experiment, oxytocin again reduced response times during encoding of self-related trait adjectives versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn a second group of men, oxytocin again shortened reaction times for judging words about themselves, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseResponse time during encoding of self-related trait adjectives (Experiment 2)
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Experiment 2 (N = 50) showed similar OT effects on response times during encoding self-related trait adjectives.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.
  5. 05HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In male adults, oxytocin decreased medial prefrontal cortex activity during encoding of self-related trait adjectives versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men, oxytocin lowered activity in a frontal brain region while they encoded words about themselves, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseMedial prefrontal cortex activity during self-related encoding (Experiment 2)
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results revealed that OT vs placebo treatments decreased the activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) involved in encoding of self-related trait adjectives and weakened the coupling between the MPFC activity and a cultural trait (i.e. interdependence).
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.
  6. 06HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In male adults, oxytocin weakened the coupling between medial prefrontal cortex activity and a cultural trait (interdependence) versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn men, oxytocin weakened the link between a frontal brain region's activity and a cultural trait, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseCoupling of MPFC activity with interdependence (Experiment 2)
    Study

    n = 50

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results revealed that OT vs placebo treatments decreased the activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) involved in encoding of self-related trait adjectives and weakened the coupling between the MPFC activity and a cultural trait (i.e. interdependence).
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design, we manipulated memory encoding and retrieval of trait adjectives related to the self, a friend and a celebrity in a self-referential task in male adults.

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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