Biological Basis of Individual Variation in Social Cooperation

Summary

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.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

DRUG

Intranasal Oxytocin (OT) 24 IU

Participants will self-administer a single dose of 24 international units (IU) oxytocin. Five puffs per nostril, each with 2.4 IU oxytocin. Ten puffs total.

DRUG

Intranasal Vasopressin (AVP)

Participants will self-administer a 1 ml solution containing 20 units of AVP. Five puffs per nostril, each with 2 International Units (IU) AVP. Ten puffs total).

DRUG

Intranasal Placebo

Participants will receive placebo sprays that are pH adjusted to comparable levels of the drugs given. Five puffs per nostril; ten puffs total.

DRUG

Intranasal Vasopressin (AVP) 40 IU

Participants will self-administer a 0.5 ml solution containing 40 international units (IU) of AVP. 5 puffs in total, each with 4 International Units (IU) AVP.

DRUG

Lorazepam

Subjects will take 1.0 mg of lorazepam orally 60 minutes prior to fMRI scan.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• John Templeton Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• Emory University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• James K Rilling, Ph.D. · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

30 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2008-04-30

Primary Completion

2016-11-30

Completion

2016-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations