The Influence of Oxytocin on the Processing of Social Contact
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Social touch can convey the most potent and salient of socio-emotional signals. While the
hypothalamic peptide oxytocin (OXT) has been identified as a key neurochemical mediator of
grooming in some other social species, its modulatory influence on human interpersonal touch
is unknown. The investigators expect that OXT augments the hedonic value of touch and that
this behavioral effect is paralleled at the neural level by an increased response in brain
areas mediating rewarding aspects of social touch.