Oromucosal Oxytocin and Vasopressin Modulation of Emotional Face Attention
Effects of Oromucosal Oxytocin and Arginine Vasopressin on Top-Down and Bottom-Up Attention to Emotional Faces: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled fMRI Study
- Healhty
At a glance
- Phase
- Phase not stated
- Study type
- Interventional
- Sponsor
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
- Enrolment target
- 120
- Started
- 18 September 2026
- Main results due
- 18 December 2026
- Study sites
- 1
- Registry updated
- 24 September 2026
Can you take part?
- Ages 18 years to 30 years.
- Open to any sex.
- Healthy volunteers can take part.
These are the headline rules only. Every study has a longer list, and whether you are eligible is decided by the research team at the site — never by this page.
Read the full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision * Eligible for MRI scanning and willing to undergo blood sampling and study treatment administration * For naturally cycling female participants, willingness and ability to complete the experimental session within the predefined menstrual-cycle phase, determined using menstrual history and urinary luteinizing hormone (LH) testing * Willing to comply with study requirements regarding alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, medication use, and other pre-session restrictions Exclusion Criteria: * History of head injury or epilepsy or seizure disorders * Current or past major psychiatric, neurological, or serious medical illness that may affect participant safety or study outcomes * Current use of psychoactive medications, hormonal medications, or other medications that may substantially affect central nervous system or neuroendocrine function * Regular smoking or inability to comply with the required nicotine abstinence period before testing * Face recognition impairment or other visual-perceptual impairment that could interfere with performance of the emotional face tasks
What this study is about
In the sponsor’s own words, from the registry.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how 24 IU oxytocin (OT) and 24 IU arginine vasopressin (AVP), administered through the oral mucosa, affect attention to emotional faces and related brain activity in healthy adults. The study will compare OT and AVP with a placebo (PLC).
The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. Does oromucosally administered oxytocin produce a behavioral pattern of modulation of top-down and bottom-up attention to emotional faces that is qualitatively consistent with previously reported intranasal oxytocin effects, and how does this pattern compare with that produced by arginine vasopressin? 2. Do oromucosally administered oxytocin and arginine vasopressin modulate neural responses within predefined brain regions and networks involved in emotional salience, attentional control, and social information processing, and are these neural effects consistent with their behavioral effects? 3. Do oxytocin and arginine vasopressin show overlapping or distinct patterns of neural modulation across top-down and bottom-up attention and high and low attentional load conditions? Researchers will compare 24 IU OT and 24 IU AVP with a placebo to determine how these treatments influence emotional face attention and brain activity.
Participants will:
* Receive 24 IU OT, 24 IU AVP, or placebo via a lyophilized oromucosal lollipop * Allow the treatment to be absorbed through the oral mucosa for about 5 minutes * Provide blood samples before and after treatment to assess peripheral oxytocin and vasopressin levels * Complete emotional face attention tasks during fMRI scanning * Have response time, response accuracy, brain activity, and peripheral neuropeptide levels measured * Complete questionnaires assessing mood states and personality traits before treatment administration to control for potential confounding effects
Study sites(1)
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuang, China
Recruiting
Showing 1 of 1 sites. 1 of the 1 site on this study is recruiting right now — a site can stop enrolling while the study as a whole is still open.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07838493. Trialion does not run this study, is not paid to refer anyone to it, and cannot enrol you. Eligibility is always decided by the research team at the site.
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