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Study identifier: NCT06222749 Synced from ClinicalTrials.gov · July 29, 2026
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Oxytocin and Reward Processing in Women

Condition: Menstrual Cycle · Hormonal Contraception  ·  Sponsor: International Research Training Group 2804

PhaseNA
Planned participants100
Who can joinFemale, 18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteersYes

About this study

Oxytocin is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that is best known for its peripheral physiological effects in the female organism i.e., uterine contractions during birth. The neuropeptide furthermore affects reward processing and metabolic functions such as eating behavior and body weight. Oxytocin receptors are present in brain regions associated with the processing of rewards, e.g., ventral tegmental area (VTA), nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and nucleus stria terminalis. Previous studies indicate that oxytocin interacts with sex hormones such as estradiol in a sex-specific manner. Despite known sex differences in oxytocin function, most studies i.e., on the metabolic effects of oxytocin in humans have so far focused on young, healthy men. Intranasal oxytocin administration has emerged as a method to experimentally investigate central nervous effects of oxytocin in the absence of relevant side effects. In the proposed study the investigators aim to systematically investigate the acute effect of intranasal oxytocin on reward processing in relation to circulating and synthetic sex hormones in healthy, naturally cycling women and in women taking hormonal oral contraceptive pills. The investigators will administer 24 international units (IU) of intranasal oxytocin vs. placebo and investigate neural correlates in a 3T MRI scanner including functional imaging during a reward processing task, changes in brain anatomy and connectivity. Additionally, metabolic functions, eating behavior and c…

This description comes directly from the study's public registry record.

Talk to the study team

Manfred Hallschmid, Professor  ·  +49 7071 29 88925  ·  manfred.hallschmid@uni-tuebingen.de

Johannes Klaus, MD  ·  Johannes.Klaus@med.uni-tuebingen.de

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Locations (1)

University of Tuebingen; Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy; Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioural NeurobiologyTübingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, GermanyRecruiting

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Source record: clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06222749