Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39365438›Full record

Trial reportPsychopharmacology2025

Oxytocin differentially modulates reward system responses to social and non-social incentives.

Matthew D Thurston, Lauren C Ericksen, Maci M Jacobson, Allison Bustamante, Vincent Koppelmans, Brian J Mickey, Tiffany M Love

Abstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2025. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. 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

7 authors.

Matthew D ThurstonCentre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4067, Australia. m.thurston@uq.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3129-8511
Lauren C EricksenDepartment of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Maci M JacobsonDepartment of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Allison BustamanteDepartment of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Vincent KoppelmansDepartment of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Brian J Mickey *Department of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Tiffany M Love *Department of Psychiatry and Huntsman Mental Health Institute, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.

Funding

CTSA UM1 Program at University of UtahUM1TR004409 · NCATS · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · PI RACHEL HESS, Jennifer Juhl Majersik · 2023 to 2026
$21.9M
NCATS NIH HHS UM1 TR004409
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleOxytocin has been shown to modulate behavior related to processing of monetary incentives and to regulate social and reproductive behavior, yet little is known about how oxytocin differentially influences neural responses to social and non-social incentives.

objectivesWe aimed to evaluate the effects of oxytocin administration on behavioral and neural responses to social and monetary incentives.

methodsTwenty-eight healthy adults (age 18-45 years) performed both monetary and social incentive tasks during blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) imaging. Intranasal oxytocin or placebo was administered before each scan using a double blind, randomized, cross-over design. Task performance and self-reported motivation and mood states were collected. Time-series analysis was conducted to assess the influence of oxytocin on the hemodynamic response in the ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra (VTA/SN) and nucleus accumbens (NAc).

resultsOxytocin demonstrated a multifaceted effect on VTA/SN and NAc when processing reward incentives, with it increasing BOLD response in VTA/SN and decreasing BOLD response in NAc during social incentive anticipation. A reversal of this was shown with decreased BOLD responses in the VTA/SN and increased BOLD response in the NAc during monetary incentive anticipation.

conclusionsOur findings suggest a more nuanced purpose of oxytocin when evaluating reward incentive decision making. It is possible that while oxytocin does increase salience to rewards, that it is more important for cognitive control when determining short-term versus long-term benefits in rewards. Future studies should more closely examine the relationship between oxytocin and delay discounting.

Indexed as

MotivationOxytocinRewardSocial BehaviorAdministration, IntranasalAdolescentAdultCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNucleus AccumbensVentral Tegmental AreaOxytocinBOLD time-seriesfMRIOxytocinPsychopharmacologyReward incentivesSocial cognition

Identifiers

PMID39365438
PMCPMC11861123

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.