NCT02393443

Oxytocin and Learning for Teaching

The Effects of Oxytocin on Learning With Social Versus Nonsocial Motivation

• Status: Completed
• Phase: EARLY_Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 161 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

One well-established cognitive theory propose a divide between social and non-social (i.e., cognitive) systems. However, recent work suggests that traditionally social systems can be utilized to enhance cognitive performance. In this study the investigators aim to explore this cooperation between oft-competing systems by instructing participants to learn information because they will be subsequently tested (the nonsocial learning-for-testing condition), or because they will be teaching the information to someone else (the prosocial learning-for-teaching condition). This latter condition relies upon the mentalizing system, which is used to contemplate another person's mental state, rather than traditional memory systems. This implies that the mnemonic powers of the mentalizing system can be leveraged in the learning of a broad array of non-social topics. Furthermore, there is also an emerging literature on the role of oxytocin, a neuropeptide naturally produced in the hypothalamus, in memory that parallels the social/nonsocial split. Oxytocin may benefit the learning-for-teaching group both in terms of enhancing initial social motivation and efficient use of the mentalizing system and then also in terms of memory consolidation for this information learning under socially-motivated conditions. The investigators expect to replicate the basic learning-for-teaching effect such that those in the teaching condition will remember more than those in the testing conditions. They also expect an interaction between oxytocin administration and learning condition such that oxytocin administration should enhance learning for socially-motivated learning exclusively.

Conditions

• Social Psychology

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Intranasal oxytocin	Through the use of 1oz bottles attached with metered nasal pumps (1 puff = .1ml), participants will self-administer 24 IU oxytocin (Syntocinon, Novartis Pharmaceuticals). 5 puffs per nostril (1 puff = 2.4 IU oxytocin).
DRUG	Intranasal placebo	Through the use of 1oz bottles attached with metered nasal pumps (1 puff = .1ml), participants will self-administer 5 puffs per nostril. Placebo consists of: 2 mls Glycerine and 3 mls purified water (methylparaben and propylparaben mixed according to purified water formula) for a total of 5 ml, which will be filtered with a 5mu filter.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-01-01
• Primary completion: 2016-07-01
• Completion: 2016-07-01
• First posted: 2015-03-19
• Last updated: 2017-08-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States