Does Acute Oxytocin Administration Enhance Social Cognition in Individuals With Schizophrenia?

Summary

Individuals with schizophrenia have been found to have deficits in social cognition, which is defined as the functions that are engaged during social interactions. Social cognition has been found to be critical in predicting multiple aspects of community functioning. There are no currently available medications that have been consistently found to improve social cognition in individuals with schizophrenia. Oxytocin functions as a neurotransmitter that is thought to be involved in multiple aspects of social behavior and related emotions. In this study, we test the hypothesis that acute administration of intranasal oxytocin will improve social cognition in individuals with schizophrenia.

Timeline

Start

2011-04

Primary completion

2012-08

Completion

2012-08

Publications

• Background Bartz JA, Zaki J, Bolger N, Hollander E, Ludwig NN, Kolevzon A, Ochsner KN. Oxytocin selectively improves empathic accuracy. Psychol Sci. 2010 Oct;21(10):1426-8. doi: 10.1177/0956797610383439. Epub 2010 Sep 20. No abstract available.
• Background Domes G, Heinrichs M, Michel A, Berger C, Herpertz SC. Oxytocin improves "mind-reading" in humans. Biol Psychiatry. 2007 Mar 15;61(6):731-3. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.07.015. Epub 2006 Nov 29.
• Background Feifel D, Macdonald K, Nguyen A, Cobb P, Warlan H, Galangue B, Minassian A, Becker O, Cooper J, Perry W, Lefebvre M, Gonzales J, Hadley A. Adjunctive intranasal oxytocin reduces symptoms in schizophrenia patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Oct 1;68(7):678-80. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.04.039. Epub 2010 Jul 7.
• Background Goldman M, Marlow-O'Connor M, Torres I, Carter CS. Diminished plasma oxytocin in schizophrenic patients with neuroendocrine dysfunction and emotional deficits. Schizophr Res. 2008 Jan;98(1-3):247-55. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2007.09.019. Epub 2007 Oct 24.
• Background Guastella AJ, Mitchell PB, Dadds MR. Oxytocin increases gaze to the eye region of human faces. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Jan 1;63(1):3-5. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.06.026. Epub 2007 Sep 21.
• Background Keri S, Kiss I, Kelemen O. Sharing secrets: oxytocin and trust in schizophrenia. Soc Neurosci. 2009;4(4):287-93. doi: 10.1080/17470910802319710. Epub 2008 Aug 1.
• Background Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature. 2005 Jun 2;435(7042):673-6. doi: 10.1038/nature03701.
• Background Shamay-Tsoory SG, Fischer M, Dvash J, Harari H, Perach-Bloom N, Levkovitz Y. Intranasal administration of oxytocin increases envy and schadenfreude (gloating). Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Nov 1;66(9):864-70. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.06.009. Epub 2009 Jul 29.
• Background Webber MA, Marder SR. Better pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia: what does the future hold? Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2008 Aug;10(4):352-8. doi: 10.1007/s11920-008-0056-8.
• Results Davis MC, Lee J, Horan WP, Clarke AD, McGee MR, Green MF, Marder SR. Effects of single dose intranasal oxytocin on social cognition in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2013 Jul;147(2-3):393-7. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.04.023. Epub 2013 May 12.

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