NCT02566356

Adult Study Oxytocin - fMRI

Mechanisms and Effects of Oxytocin on Social Cognition in Schizophrenia - fMRI

• Status: Completed
• Phase: EARLY_Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 59 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco · Academic / Other
• Sex: Male
• Age: 18 Years – 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

In this study, investigators will examine the behavioral effects and neurophysiological mechanisms of the pro-social neuropeptide oxytocin in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Such research is a necessary first step towards identifying whether intranasal oxytocin administration can serve as an adjunct treatment for social impairments in schizophrenia. Aim 1: To examine the effects of exogenous oxytocin on patterns of neural activation as measured by fMRI during a well-characterized affect-labeling task in patients with recent-onset schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects. Hypothesis A: Patients will exhibit amygdalar hyperactivity and PNS hypo-activity when passively viewing faces, which will be normalized by administration of oxytocin. Hypothesis B: Patients will exhibit hypo-activity of the vPFC when affectively labeling faces and this hypo-activity will be normalized by oxytocin administration.

Conditions

• Schizophrenia
• Oxytocin
• Social Cognition
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Oxytocin	40 IU of the oxytocin will be administered intranasally for a one time dose at the beginning of the visit.
DRUG	Saline Nasal Spray	40 IU of the saline nasal spray will be administered once at the beginning of the visit.

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-09-01
• Primary completion: 2017-09-01
• Completion: 2017-09-01
• First posted: 2015-10-02
• Last updated: 2019-05-21

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States