Oxytocin differentially modulates the early neural responses to faces and non-social stimuli.

Moses E, Nelson N, Taubert J, Pegna AJ

Social cognitive and affective neuroscience1 Feb 2024Cited by 5 (Europe PMC)

PMID38372627PMCIDPMC10876073DOI10.1093/scan/nsae010PepBankPUB-38372627

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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-ND. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study5

5 results from studies that gave the peptide. 5 results from people.

01HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy men, intranasal oxytocin evoked greater occipital N1 and anterior P1 amplitudes to faces at about 155 ms than placebo did.
In plain wordsIn healthy men, oxytocin increased early brain responses to faces compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseEarly ERP to faces (occipital N1, anterior P1)
Study
n = 37
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Measurements
Latency of N1 and P1 effect
≈ 155 ms
faces
Source sentences
Summary
For faces regardless of emotion, OT evoked greater occipital N1 and anterior P1 amplitudes at ∼155 ms than after PL
2 context sentences(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
To this end, we conducted a randomized, counter-balanced, double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled within-subjects' electro-encephalography (EEG) study with cismale participants (to control for gender dimorphic hormonal effects; n = 37).
Summary · context
Participants received intranasal OT (24IU) and completed a one-back task viewing emotional (fearful/ happy) and neutral faces, and threat (snakes/spiders) and non-threat (mushrooms/flowers) non-social stimuli.
Report a problemFND-3837262701
02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy men, oxytocin led to sustained ERP differences to faces over anterior, bilateral parietal and occipital sites from 205 ms onwards, compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn healthy men, oxytocin changed later brain responses to faces compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Direction not reportedSustained ERP differences to faces from 205 ms
Study
n = 37
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Measurements
Onset of sustained differences
205 ms
faces
Source sentences
Summary
and lead to sustained differences over anterior, bilateral parietal and occipital sites from 205 ms onwards.
2 context sentences(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
To this end, we conducted a randomized, counter-balanced, double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled within-subjects' electro-encephalography (EEG) study with cismale participants (to control for gender dimorphic hormonal effects; n = 37).
Summary · context
Participants received intranasal OT (24IU) and completed a one-back task viewing emotional (fearful/ happy) and neutral faces, and threat (snakes/spiders) and non-threat (mushrooms/flowers) non-social stimuli.
Report a problemFND-3837262702
03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy men, oxytocin evoked greater right parietal N1 amplitudes to all non-social stimuli than placebo did.
In plain wordsIn healthy men, oxytocin increased an early brain response to non-social pictures compared with placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseRight parietal N1 to non-social stimuli
Study
n = 37
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
For all non-social stimuli, OT evoked greater right parietal N1 amplitudes
2 context sentences(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
To this end, we conducted a randomized, counter-balanced, double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled within-subjects' electro-encephalography (EEG) study with cismale participants (to control for gender dimorphic hormonal effects; n = 37).
Summary · context
Participants received intranasal OT (24IU) and completed a one-back task viewing emotional (fearful/ happy) and neutral faces, and threat (snakes/spiders) and non-threat (mushrooms/flowers) non-social stimuli.
Report a problemFND-3837262703
04HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy men, oxytocin later affected only threat stimuli over right parietal and occipital sites.
In plain wordsIn healthy men, oxytocin later changed brain responses only to threat pictures such as snakes and spiders.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Direction not reportedLater ERP to threat non-social stimuli
Study
n = 37
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
and later only impacted threat stimuli over right parietal and occipital sites.
2 context sentences(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
To this end, we conducted a randomized, counter-balanced, double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled within-subjects' electro-encephalography (EEG) study with cismale participants (to control for gender dimorphic hormonal effects; n = 37).
Summary · context
Participants received intranasal OT (24IU) and completed a one-back task viewing emotional (fearful/ happy) and neutral faces, and threat (snakes/spiders) and non-threat (mushrooms/flowers) non-social stimuli.
Report a problemFND-3837262704
05HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In healthy men, none of the oxytocin-induced ERP modulations was related to individual anxiety levels.
In plain wordsIn healthy men, the brain changes after oxytocin were not linked to how anxious people were.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
No significant changeRelation of ERP modulation to anxiety
Study
n = 37
Outcome group
Brain and neuronal activity · Nervous system and cognition
Studied dose
24IU · intranasalAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
None of these OT-induced modulations was related to individual anxiety levels.
2 context sentences(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
To this end, we conducted a randomized, counter-balanced, double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled within-subjects' electro-encephalography (EEG) study with cismale participants (to control for gender dimorphic hormonal effects; n = 37).
Summary · context
Participants received intranasal OT (24IU) and completed a one-back task viewing emotional (fearful/ happy) and neutral faces, and threat (snakes/spiders) and non-threat (mushrooms/flowers) non-social stimuli.
Report a problemFND-3837262705

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.

Version 2Current
11 Oct 2026, 00:50 UTC
Study results updated
Version 1
9 Oct 2026, 02:48 UTC
First added · source update from Europe PMC

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