Zunhammer, Matthias and Geis, Sandra and Busch, Volker and Greenlee, Mark W. and Eichhammer, Peter (2015) Effects of Intranasal Oxytocin on Thermal Pain in Healthy Men: A Randomized Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study. PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE, 77 (2). pp. 156-166. ISSN 0033-3174, 1534-7796
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Objective Intranasal oxytocin has been shown to affect human social and emotional processing, but its potential to affect pain remains elusive. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial investigated the effect of intranasal oxytocin on the perception and processing of noxious experimental heat in 36 healthy male volunteers. Methods Thermal thresholds were determined according to the Quantitative Sensory Testing protocol. A functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment including intensity and unpleasantness ratings of tonic heat was used to investigate the effects of oxytocin within the brain. Results Thirty men (aged 18-50 years) were included in the study. Intranasal oxytocin had no significant effect on thermal thresholds, but significantly (t = -2.06, p = .046) reduced heat intensity ratings during functional magnetic resonance imaging. The effect on intensity ratings was small (-3.46 points on a 100-point visual analog scale [95% confidence interval {CI} = -6.86 to -0.07] and independent of temperature. No effects of oxytocin on stimulus- or temperature-related processing were found at the whole-brain level at a robust statistical threshold. A region of interest analysis indicated that oxytocin caused small but significant decreases in left (-0.045%, 95% CI = -0.087 to -0.003, t = -2.19, p = .037) and right (-0.051%, 95% CI = -0.088 to -0.014], t = -2.82, p = .008) amygdala activity across all temperatures. Conclusions The present study provides evidence for a significant but subtle inhibitory effect of oxytocin on thermal stimulus ratings and concurrent amygdala activity. Neither of the two effects significantly depended of temperature; therefore, the hypothesis of a pain-specific effect of oxytocin could not be confirmed. Trial Registration: EUDRA-CT 2009-015115-40
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | SOCIAL COGNITION; MOOD STATES; BRAIN; HUMANS; NASAL; FMRI; VALIDATION; MRI; intranasal oxytocin; experimental pain; functional magnetic resonance imaging; amygdala; human |
| Subjects: | 100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology 600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine |
| Divisions: | Medicine > Lehrstuhl für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Psychology and Pedagogy > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie I (Allgemeine Psychologie I und Methodenlehre) - Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2019 13:40 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2019 13:40 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/6013 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
