Neural substrates underlying the effects of oxytocin: a quantitative meta-analysis of pharmaco-imaging studies.

Wang D, Yan X, Li M, Ma Y

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience1 Oct 2017Cited by 74 (Europe PMC)

PMID29048602PMCIDPMC5647800DOI10.1093/scan/nsx085PepBankPUB-29048602

Read at source PubMedAsk about this study

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 study10

10 results from studies that gave the peptide. 10 results from people.

01HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased bilateral amygdala activity in healthy individuals.
In plain wordsIn brain scans of healthy people, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the amygdala on both sides of the brain.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseBilateral amygdala activity in healthy individuals
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
IN-OT increased bilateral amygdala, caudate head, and superior temporal activity in healthy individuals
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860201
02HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased caudate head activity in healthy individuals.
In plain wordsIn brain scans of healthy people, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the caudate head, a brain region.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseCaudate head activity in healthy individuals
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
IN-OT increased bilateral amygdala, caudate head, and superior temporal activity in healthy individuals
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860202
03HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased superior temporal activity in healthy individuals.
In plain wordsIn brain scans of healthy people, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the superior temporal region of the brain.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseSuperior temporal activity in healthy individuals
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
IN-OT increased bilateral amygdala, caudate head, and superior temporal activity in healthy individuals
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860203
04HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased dorsal anterior cingulate activity in patients.
In plain wordsIn brain scans of patients, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate, a brain region.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseDorsal anterior cingulate activity in patients
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
increased dorsal anterior cingulate activity in patients.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860204
05HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin decreased amygdala activity in both patients and healthy individuals.
In plain wordsIn brain scans of patients and of healthy people, intranasal oxytocin decreased activity in the amygdala.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
DecreaseAmygdala activity decrease in patients and healthy individuals
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Moreover, IN-OT decreased amygdala activity in both patients and healthy individuals but did so to a greater degree in patients than healthy individuals.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860205
06HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, the intranasal oxytocin decrease in amygdala activity was greater in patients than in healthy individuals.
In plain wordsIn brain scans, intranasal oxytocin lowered amygdala activity more in patients than in healthy people.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
DecreaseAmygdala activity decrease in patients versus healthy individuals
Study
n: not reported in source
Comparator
Healthy individuals
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Moreover, IN-OT decreased amygdala activity in both patients and healthy individuals but did so to a greater degree in patients than healthy individuals.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860206
07HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, the intranasal oxytocin increase in amygdala activity was found only for negative social and affective processes.
In plain wordsIn brain scans, intranasal oxytocin raised amygdala activity only during negative social and emotional tasks.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseAmygdala activity increase by valence
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
The OT-increased amygdala activity was only found on the negative social and affective processes
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860207
08HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased parahippocampal activity during negative socio-affective processing.
In plain wordsIn brain scans, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the parahippocampal region during negative social and emotional tasks.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseParahippocampal activity during negative socio-affective processing
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
IN-OT increased parahippocampal activity and decreased amygdala activity during negative socio-affective processing.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860208
09HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin decreased amygdala activity during negative socio-affective processing.
In plain wordsIn brain scans, intranasal oxytocin lowered amygdala activity during negative social and emotional tasks.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
DecreaseAmygdala activity during negative socio-affective processing
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
IN-OT increased parahippocampal activity and decreased amygdala activity during negative socio-affective processing.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860209
10HumanSystematic reviewMechanism
In a meta-analysis of fMRI studies, intranasal oxytocin increased caudate head activity during positive socio-affective processes.
In plain wordsIn brain scans, intranasal oxytocin increased activity in the caudate head during positive social and emotional tasks.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseCaudate head activity during positive socio-affective processing
Study
n: not reported in source
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
During positive socio-affective processes, IN-OT increased caudate head activity.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
Meta-analyses were conducted on 66 IN-OT fMRI studies, stratified by psychopathology, valence and sex.
Report a problemFND-2904860210

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Registered trials1

Trials this study reports on, or that list this study as a reference. Registry data from ClinicalTrials.gov.

1 trial · 1 completed · source ClinicalTrials.gov (opens in a new tab)

CompletedPhase 2NCT06945926

The Effect of Oxytocin Nasal Spray on Preventing Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Surgery

Zhejiang Universityn = 2271 Jun 2025 to 2 Jun 2026

Cervical Spinal Stenosis · Thoracic Spinal Stenosis · Lumbar Spinal Stenosis · Rotator Cuff Injury · Femoral Head Necrosis · Spinal Trauma · Knee Joint Injury

Trial page ClinicalTrials.govUpdated 20 Aug 2026

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.

Version 2Current
9 Oct 2026, 18:17 UTC
Study results updated
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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Keywords

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