Biological Basis of Individual Variation in Social Cooperation

Status

Completed

Phase

Not applicable

Enrollment

707 participants (actual)

Sponsor

Emory University · Other

Design

Randomized · Triple masking

Countries

1 country

United States

Start

Apr 2008

Primary completion

Nov 2016

Completion

Nov 2016

First posted

29 Mar 2012 (estimated)

Last update posted

25 Sept 2017

Conditions

Healthy

The project has three overall objectives. The first is to determine whether and how administration of intranasal oxytocin (OT) and intranasal vasopressin (AVP) influence cooperative decision-making and neural responses to cooperative and un-cooperative social interactions. The second is to determine whether and how intranasal vasopressin influences subjective evaluations of and neural responses to same and opposite-sex face stimuli and to determine if any of these effects persist beyond the period of AVP exposure. The third objective is to determine if intranasal OT influences empathy-related behavior and associated brain activity.

• Experimental

  Healthy Volunteers - Intranasal Vasopressin (AVP)

  The AVP group of healthy volunteers will self-administer vasopressin solution prior to completing the PD task.

• Experimental

  Healthy Volunteers - Intranasal Oxytocin (OT)

  The OT group of healthy volunteers will self-administer oxytocin solution prior to completing the PD task.

• Placebo comparator

  Healthy Volunteers - Intranasal Placebo

  The placebo group of healthy volunteers will self-administer a placebo spray prior to completing the PD task.

• Experimental

  Within Subject Group

  Some healthy volunteer participants who received drug in their first session will receive placebo in their second session and vice-versa prior to completing the PD task. For each gender, half will receive AVP in one session and placebo in the other session, and half will receive OT in one session and placebo in the second session. In each group, half of the subjects will receive drug first and half will receive placebo first. Additionally, a group of subjects who receive placebo the first time will receive placebo the second time.

• Experimental

  Faces Task - Vasopressin (AVP)

  Healthy volunteers between the ages of 21-30 years will receive Faces Intranasal Vasopressin (AVP) prior to completing the Faces task during fMRI scanning.

• Placebo comparator

  Faces Task - Placebo

  Healthy volunteers between the ages of 21-30 years will receive placebo prior to completing the Faces task during fMRI scanning.

• Experimental

  Empathy Task - Oxytocin (OT)

  Healthy volunteers between the ages of 18-30 years will receive placebo at scan 1 and OT at scan 2 prior to completing an empathy task.

• Placebo comparator

  Empathy Task - Placebo

  Healthy volunteers between the ages of 18-30 years will receive placebo at scan 1 and placebo at scan 2 prior to completing an empathy task.

• Experimental

  Anxious and Depressed Subjects - OT

  Depressed or anxious men between the ages of 18 and 22 will receive intranasal OT prior to completing the Prisoner's Dilemma game task and MRI scan.

• Placebo comparator

  Anxious and Depressed Subjects - Placebo

  Depressed or anxious men between the ages of 18 and 22 will receive intranasal placebo prior to completing the Prisoner's Dilemma game task and MRI scan.

• Experimental

  Healthy Volunteers - Lorazepam

  Healthy normal men between the ages of 18 and 22 will receive lorazepam prior to completing the Prisoner's Dilemma game task and MRI scan.

1. Healthy Volunteers-OT, Placebo: Mean Percent Signal Change in Right Caudate Nucleus in Men

   Time frame · Visit 1 (40-100 Minutes Post-Intervention)

   Registry description

   The effect of the drug treatment will be assessed by determining differences in brain activation between OT and placebo groups in the right caudate nucleus region during reciprocated cooperation in Prisoner Dilemma game while undergoing an fMRI scan.

2. Healthy Volunteers-OT, Placebo: Mean Percent Signal Change in Right Caudate Nucleus in Women

   Time frame · Visit 1 (40-100 Minutes Post-Intervention)

   Registry description

   The effect of the drug treatment will be assessed by determining differences in brain activation between OT and placebo groups in the right caudate nucleus region during reciprocated cooperation in Prisoner Dilemma game while undergoing an fMRI scan.

3. Healthy Volunteers-AVP, Placebo: Mean Percent Signal Change in Left Insula in Men

   Time frame · Visit 1 (40-100 Minutes Post-Intervention)

   Registry description

   The effect of the drug treatment will be assessed by determining differences in brain activation between AVP and placebo groups in the left insula region during reciprocated cooperation in Prisoner Dilemma game while undergoing an fMRI scan.

4. Healthy Volunteers-AVP, Placebo: Mean Percent Signal Change in Left Insula in Women

   Time frame · Visit 1 (40-100 Minutes Post-Intervention)

   Registry description

   The effect of the drug treatment will be assessed by determining differences in brain activation between AVP and placebo groups in the left insula during reciprocated cooperation in Prisoner Dilemma game while undergoing an fMRI scan.

5. Within Subject Group: Mean Percent Signal Change in Left Caudate Nucleus in Men and Women

   Time frame · Visit 1 (30-75 Minutes Post-Intervention), Visit 2 (Up to 2 Weeks)

   Registry description

   The effect of the drug will be assessed by determining changes in brain activation between the visit where the participant received drug and the visit where the participant received PL in the right caudate during reciprocated cooperation in Prisoner Dilemma game while undergoing an fMRI scan.