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Study · Randomized controlled trial · 2021

3 results

Intranasal oxytocin decreases fear generalization in males, but does not modulate discrimination threshold.

Dou H, Zou L, Becker B, Lei Y

Psychopharmacology25 Nov 2020Cited by 9 (Europe PMC)

PMID33241482 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1007/s00213-020-05720-8 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-33241482
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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: 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 healthy men, intranasal oxytocin reduced perceived risk toward the CS+ and GS1 during fear generalization versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy men, nasal oxytocin lowered perceived risk of a threat-linked cue and a similar cue compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreasePerceived risk during fear generalization
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Anxiety and mood · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Relative to PLC, OT significantly reduced perceived risk and SCRs towards the CS+ and GS1 (the generalization stimulus that is most similar to CS+) during fear generalization, whereas the discrimination threshold was not affected.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We employed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subject design during which healthy male participants received either intranasal OT or placebo (PLC) following fear acquisition and before fear generalization with concomitant acquisition of skin conductance responses (SCRs).
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy men, intranasal oxytocin reduced skin conductance responses toward the CS+ and GS1 during fear generalization versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy men, nasal oxytocin lowered body stress responses to a threat-linked cue and a similar cue compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    DecreaseSkin conductance responses during fear generalization
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Anxiety and mood · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Relative to PLC, OT significantly reduced perceived risk and SCRs towards the CS+ and GS1 (the generalization stimulus that is most similar to CS+) during fear generalization, whereas the discrimination threshold was not affected.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We employed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subject design during which healthy male participants received either intranasal OT or placebo (PLC) following fear acquisition and before fear generalization with concomitant acquisition of skin conductance responses (SCRs).
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome

    In healthy men, intranasal oxytocin did not affect the discrimination threshold versus placebo.

    In plain wordsIn healthy men, nasal oxytocin did not change the ability to tell similar cues apart, compared with placebo.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    No significant changeDiscrimination threshold
    Study

    n: not reported in source

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Sensory perception · Mental health and mood
    Studied dose
    Dose not stated · intranasalAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Relative to PLC, OT significantly reduced perceived risk and SCRs towards the CS+ and GS1 (the generalization stimulus that is most similar to CS+) during fear generalization, whereas the discrimination threshold was not affected.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    We employed a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subject design during which healthy male participants received either intranasal OT or placebo (PLC) following fear acquisition and before fear generalization with concomitant acquisition of skin conductance responses (SCRs).

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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