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Zunhammer, Matthias ; Geis, Sandra ; Busch, Volker ; Eichhammer, Peter ; Greenlee, Mark W.

Pain modulation by intranasal oxytocin and emotional picture viewing — a randomized double-blind fMRI study

Article

Zunhammer, Matthias, Geis, Sandra, Busch, Volker, Eichhammer, Peter and Greenlee, Mark W. (2016) Pain modulation by intranasal oxytocin and emotional picture viewing — a randomized double-blind fMRI study. Scientific Reports 6 (31606), pp. 1-10.

DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.34511


Abstract

The hormone oxytocin has been hypothesized to influence the emotional dimension of pain. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study explored whether intranasal oxytocin and emotional context can affect heat pain perception in 30 healthy male volunteers. After receiving 36 IU oxytocin or placebo, participants underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during ...

The hormone oxytocin has been hypothesized to influence the emotional dimension of pain. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study explored whether intranasal oxytocin and emotional context can affect heat pain perception in 30 healthy male volunteers. After receiving 36 IU oxytocin or placebo, participants underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during which noxious and non-noxious thermode heat stimuli were applied. Simultaneously, scenes from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) with positive, neutral, and negative emotional valence were shown. Heat intensity and unpleasantness ratings were obtained. The activity of whole-brain correlates of heat processing was quantified via multi-voxel pattern analysis. We observed no appreciable main effects of oxytocin on ratings or neural pain correlates. Effects of emotional picture valence on ratings were smaller than reported in previous studies. Nevertheless, oxytocin was found to significantly enhance the influence of picture valence on unpleasantness ratings at noxious heat levels. No corresponding changes in whole-brain correlates of heat intensity processing were found. Our study provides evidence that intranasal oxytocin increases the effects of emotional context on the subjective unpleasantness of experimental heat pain. Future studies are needed to determine whether this effect can be utilized in clinical settings.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleScientific Reports
PublisherNature
Open Access TypeGold (with APC)
Place of PublicationLONDON
Volume6
Number of Issue or Book Chapter31606
Page Rangepp. 1-10
Date22 August 2016
Date of publication02 Sep 2016 13:46
InstitutionsHuman Sciences > Institut für Psychologie > Lehrstuhl für Psychologie I (Allgemeine Psychologie I und Methodenlehre) - Prof. Dr. Mark W. Greenlee
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1038/srep31606DOI
Article-ID: 31606Other
KeywordsCLINICAL-TRIALS; HUMAN BRAIN; RESPONSES; VALENCE; HUMANS; ATTENTION; STIMULI; RECOMMENDATIONS; POTENTIALS; PERCEPTION;
Dewey Decimal Classification100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-345115
Item ID34511

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