Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36127337›Full record

Trial reportTranslational psychiatry2022

Effects of single- and multiple-dose oxytocin treatment on amygdala low-frequency BOLD fluctuations and BOLD spectral dynamics in autism.

Kaat Alaerts, Sylvie Bernaerts, Nicole Wenderoth

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Translational psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Neuropeptidergic systems in psychiatric disorders.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Kaat AlaertsDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, Group Biomedical Sciences, Neuromodulation Laboratory, Neurorehabilitation Research Group, University of Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Kaat.Alaerts@kuleuven.be.ORCID 0000-0001-8665-6374
Sylvie BernaertsDepartment of Rehabilitation Sciences, Group Biomedical Sciences, Neuromodulation Laboratory, Neurorehabilitation Research Group, University of Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Nicole WenderothDepartment of Health Sciences and Technology, Neural Control of Movement Lab, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-3246-9386
ETH Zurich · CHKU Leuven · BENeuroelectronics Research Flanders · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Prior neuroimaging clinical trials investigating the neural effects of intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin demonstrated a key role of the amygdala in oxytocin's neuromodulatory effects. These studies mostly demonstrated the acute effects of single-dose administrations, examining task-dependent effects of oxytocin on brain activity elicited during explicit experimental tasks or stimuli presentations. The increased consideration of oxytocin as a potential ameliorating treatment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requires a better understanding of how multiple-dose oxytocin administration affects intrinsic, task-free, amygdala function. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with between-subject design, 38 adult men with ASD underwent resting-state fMRI scanning before and after oxytocin or placebo treatment. Effects were assessed either after a single-dose administration, consisting of 24 international units, or after multiple-dose treatment, consisting of 4 weeks of once-daily nasal spray administrations. Compared to placebo, oxytocin induced a decrease in intrinsic resting-state BOLD signal amplitudes of the bilateral amygdala (fractional amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuations) and modulated cross-frequency interactions between adjacent BOLD frequency components. The right amygdala showed a pattern of reduced cross-frequency harmonicity, while the left amygdala showed a relative increase in harmonic cross-frequency interactions after oxytocin treatment. Notably, the direction and magnitude of BOLD spectral changes induced after a single-dose were qualitatively similar to treatment effects induced after multiple-dose treatment. Furthermore, the identified spectral changes in amygdalar BOLD amplitude and cross-frequency harmonicity were associated with improved feelings of tension, reflecting oxytocin's anxiolytic, stress-reducing neuromodulatory role. The observed effects of oxytocin on amygdalar BOLD spectral characteristics and associated behaviors contribute to a deeper mechanistic understanding of the intrinsic, task-free neuromodulatory dynamics that underlie single- and multiple-dose oxytocin treatment in ASD. European Clinical Trial Registry (Eudract 2014-000586-45).

Indexed as

Anti-Anxiety AgentsAutism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderNeuropeptidesAdultAmygdalaHumansMaleNasal SpraysOxytocinAnti-Anxiety AgentsNasal SpraysNeuropeptidesOxytocin

Identifiers

PMID36127337
PMCPMC9489696
OpenAlexW4296773739

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.