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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 30 · 2020

3 results

Acute oxytocin effects in inferring others' beliefs and social emotions in people at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Schmidt A, Davies C, Paloyelis Y, Meyer N, De Micheli A, Ramella-Cravaro V, Provenzani U, Aoki Y, Rutigliano G, Cappucciati M, Oliver D, Murguia S and 10 more

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Zelaya F, Allen P, Shergill S, Morrison P, Williams S, Taylor D, Borgwardt S, Yamasue H, McGuire P, Fusar-Poli P

Translational psychiatry22 Jun 2020Cited by 14 (Europe PMC)

PMID32572020 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC7308367 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1038/s41398-020-00885-4 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-32572020
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Summary

Social deficits are key hallmarks of the Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) state and of established psychotic disorders, and contribute to impaired social functioning, indicating a potential target for interventions. However, current treatments do not significantly ameliorate social impairments in CHR-P individuals. Given its critical role in social behaviour and cognition, the oxytocinergic (OT) system is a promising target for novel interventions in CHR-P subjects. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 30 CHR-P males were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on two occasions, once after 40IU self-administered intranasal OT and once after placebo. A modified version of the Sally-Anne task was used to assess brain activation during inferring others' beliefs and social emotions. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test was acquired prior to the first scan to test whether OT effects were moderated by baseline social-emotional abilities. OT did not modulate behavioural performances but reduced activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus compared with placebo while inferring others' social emotions. Furthermore, the relationship between brain activation and task performance after OT administration was moderated by baseline social-emotional abilities. While task accuracy during inferring others' social emotion increased with decreasing activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in CHR-P individuals with low social-emotional abilities, there was no such relationship in CHR-P individuals with high social-emotional abilities. Our findings may suggest that acute OT administration enhances neural efficiency in the inferior frontal gyrus during inferring others' social emotions in those CHR-P subjects with low baseline social-emotional abilities.
CC BYText from Europe PMC. Highlighted sentences are the source of results.

Results from this study3

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

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In males at clinical high risk for psychosis, intranasal oxytocin did not modulate behavioural performance on the belief and social-emotion inference task.

    In plain wordsIn men at high risk for psychosis, nasal oxytocin did not change task performance compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeBehavioural performance on the social-emotion inference task
    Study

    n = 30

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    OT did not modulate behavioural performances
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 30 CHR-P males were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on two occasions, once after 40IU self-administered intranasal OT and once after placebo.
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In males at clinical high risk for psychosis, intranasal oxytocin reduced bilateral inferior frontal gyrus activation compared with placebo while inferring others' social emotions.

    In plain wordsIn men at high risk for psychosis, nasal oxytocin lowered activity in a frontal brain region compared with placebo during a social-emotion task.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseBilateral inferior frontal gyrus activation while inferring social emotions
    Study

    n = 30

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

    Source sentences

    Summary
    but reduced activation in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus compared with placebo while inferring others' social emotions.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 30 CHR-P males were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on two occasions, once after 40IU self-administered intranasal OT and once after placebo.
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In males at clinical high risk for psychosis, after oxytocin task accuracy rose with lower left inferior frontal gyrus activation in those with low social-emotional abilities, but not in those with high abilities.

    In plain wordsIn men at high risk for psychosis, after nasal oxytocin brain activity and accuracy were linked only in those with low social-emotional skills.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    MixedRelation of left inferior frontal gyrus activation to accuracy after oxytocin, by baseline social-emotional ability
    Study

    n = 30

    Outcome group
    Cognition and memory · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    40IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    While task accuracy during inferring others' social emotion increased with decreasing activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus in CHR-P individuals with low social-emotional abilities, there was no such relationship in CHR-P individuals with high social-emotional abilities.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design, 30 CHR-P males were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on two occasions, once after 40IU self-administered intranasal OT and once after placebo.

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, 00:50 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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