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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 94 · 2019

3 results

Oxytocin alters patterns of brain activity and amygdalar connectivity by age during dynamic facial emotion identification.

Horta M, Ziaei M, Lin T, Porges EC, Fischer H, Feifel D, Spreng RN, Ebner NC

Neurobiology of aging29 Jan 2019Cited by 24 (Europe PMC)

PMID30870779 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC6545147 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.01.016 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-30870779
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Summary

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Text rights: Publisher copyright. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study3

3 results from studies that gave the peptide. 3 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In young and older adults, intranasal oxytocin had no behavioral effect on dynamic facial emotion identification versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn young and older adults, oxytocin did not change performance on a facial emotion task compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeBehavioral accuracy and speed of emotion identification (treatment effect)
    Study

    n = 94

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Although there was no behavioral treatment effect
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    To determine the effects of OT on dynamic facial emotion identification across adulthood, 46 young and 48 older participants self-administered intranasal OT or a placebo in a randomized, double-blind procedure.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In young and older adults, oxytocin altered brain activity patterns during emotion identification, for sadness and happiness in young adults and for sadness only in older adults.

    In plain wordsIn young and older adults, oxytocin changed brain activity during emotion identification, and the pattern differed by age and emotion.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    MixedBrain activity patterns during emotion identification by age and emotion
    Study

    n = 94

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Measurements

    Covariance
    15.3%
    partial least squares analysis of treatment effect by age and emotion

    Source sentences

    Summary
    For young participants, OT altered the processing of sadness and happiness, whereas for older participants, OT only affected the processing of sadness (15.3% covariance, p = 0.004).
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    To determine the effects of OT on dynamic facial emotion identification across adulthood, 46 young and 48 older participants self-administered intranasal OT or a placebo in a randomized, double-blind procedure.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In older adults, oxytocin recruited a larger, positively correlated amygdalar network than placebo during emotion identification.

    In plain wordsIn older adults, oxytocin engaged a larger network of amygdala-linked brain regions than placebo did during emotion identification.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    IncreaseAmygdalar network connectivity in older participants
    Study

    n = 94

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Measurements

    Covariance
    7%
    older participants, seed PLS

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Furthermore, seed partial least squares analysis showed that older participants in the OT group recruited a large-scale amygdalar network that was positively correlated for anger, fear, and happiness, whereas older participants in the placebo group recruited a smaller, negatively correlated network…
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    To determine the effects of OT on dynamic facial emotion identification across adulthood, 46 young and 48 older participants self-administered intranasal OT or a placebo in a randomized, double-blind procedure.

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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