Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans

Background Although recent data in healthy humans suggestthat treatment with intranasal oxytocin (OT) may facilitate extinction recall,to date, little is known about the effects of OT on memory consolidationprocesses.Aim To examine the effect of intranasal administration of OT compared with placebo...

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Main Authors: Eric Bui, Elizabeth Hoge, Peter Rosencrans, Scott Orr, Rachel Ross, Rebecca Ojserkis, Naomi Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-12-01
Series:General Psychiatry
Online Access:https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/32/6/e100131.full
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author Eric Bui
Elizabeth Hoge
Peter Rosencrans
Scott Orr
Rachel Ross
Rebecca Ojserkis
Naomi Simon
author_facet Eric Bui
Elizabeth Hoge
Peter Rosencrans
Scott Orr
Rachel Ross
Rebecca Ojserkis
Naomi Simon
author_sort Eric Bui
collection DOAJ
description Background Although recent data in healthy humans suggestthat treatment with intranasal oxytocin (OT) may facilitate extinction recall,to date, little is known about the effects of OT on memory consolidationprocesses.Aim To examine the effect of intranasal administration of OT compared with placebo on memory consolidation blockade of a de novo fear memory in a classical 2-day fear conditioning procedure.Results There were no significant differences between the OT and the placebo groups on the first two extinction trials (mean (SD)=0.01 (0.39) vs 0.15 (0.31), t=−1.092, p=0.28). Similarly, during early extinction, analysis of variance for repeated measures failed to show significant main effects of extinction trials: trials (F(4, 112)=1.58, p=0.18), drug (F(1, 112)=0.13, p=0.72) or drug × trials interaction (F(4, 112)=0.76, p=0.56).Conclusion Our results suggest that OT administered in a double-blind fashion immediately after fear conditioning does not significantly reduce consolidation of fear learning as measured by a differential skin conductance response tested at the beginning of extinction.
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series General Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-a1d3977cf3b94bd8baccd6bb8a276c082024-11-08T13:30:07ZengBMJ Publishing GroupGeneral Psychiatry2517-729X2019-12-0132610.1136/gpsych-2019-100131Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humansEric Bui0Elizabeth Hoge1Peter Rosencrans2Scott Orr3Rachel Ross4Rebecca Ojserkis5Naomi Simon6Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USAMassachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USAMassachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USAMassachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USAMassachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USANew York University Medical Center, New York, New York, USABackground Although recent data in healthy humans suggestthat treatment with intranasal oxytocin (OT) may facilitate extinction recall,to date, little is known about the effects of OT on memory consolidationprocesses.Aim To examine the effect of intranasal administration of OT compared with placebo on memory consolidation blockade of a de novo fear memory in a classical 2-day fear conditioning procedure.Results There were no significant differences between the OT and the placebo groups on the first two extinction trials (mean (SD)=0.01 (0.39) vs 0.15 (0.31), t=−1.092, p=0.28). Similarly, during early extinction, analysis of variance for repeated measures failed to show significant main effects of extinction trials: trials (F(4, 112)=1.58, p=0.18), drug (F(1, 112)=0.13, p=0.72) or drug × trials interaction (F(4, 112)=0.76, p=0.56).Conclusion Our results suggest that OT administered in a double-blind fashion immediately after fear conditioning does not significantly reduce consolidation of fear learning as measured by a differential skin conductance response tested at the beginning of extinction.https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/32/6/e100131.full
spellingShingle Eric Bui
Elizabeth Hoge
Peter Rosencrans
Scott Orr
Rachel Ross
Rebecca Ojserkis
Naomi Simon
Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
General Psychiatry
title Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
title_full Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
title_fullStr Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
title_full_unstemmed Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
title_short Influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
title_sort influence of intranasal oxytocin on fear consolidation in healthy humans
url https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/32/6/e100131.full
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