Oxytocin and Learning for Teaching

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2016-07-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

One well-established cognitive theory propose a divide between social and non-social (i.e., cognitive) systems. However, recent work suggests that traditionally social systems can be utilized to enhance cognitive performance. In this study the investigators aim to explore this cooperation between oft-competing systems by instructing participants to learn information because they will be subsequently tested (the nonsocial learning-for-testing condition), or because they will be teaching the information to someone else (the prosocial learning-for-teaching condition). This latter condition relies upon the mentalizing system, which is used to contemplate another person's mental state, rather than traditional memory systems. This implies that the mnemonic powers of the mentalizing system can be leveraged in the learning of a broad array of non-social topics. Furthermore, there is also an emerging literature on the role of oxytocin, a neuropeptide naturally produced in the hypothalamus, in memory that parallels the social/nonsocial split. Oxytocin may benefit the learning-for-teaching group both in terms of enhancing initial social motivation and efficient use of the mentalizing system and then also in terms of memory consolidation for this information learning under socially-motivated conditions.

The investigators expect to replicate the basic learning-for-teaching effect such that those in the teaching condition will remember more than those in the testing conditions. They also expect an interaction between oxytocin administration and learning condition such that oxytocin administration should enhance learning for socially-motivated learning exclusively.

• Phase: Early Phase 1
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles
• Treatments: Oxytocin

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-30 years of age

• Healthy (see below)

• Fluent in English

• Right-handed

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women who gave birth in the last six months, are currently pregnant, planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months, or currently breastfeeding women

• Symptoms of runny nose due to allergies/cold or other reason

• Current restricted fluid intake for any reason

• Heart disease

• Hypertension

• History of myocardial infarction

• History of cardiac arrhythmia

• Kidney or liver disease

• Vascular disease

• Epilepsy

• Migraine

• Asthma

• Nephritis

• Diabetes and other endocrine diseases

• Frequent or unexplained fainting

• History of stroke

• Aneurysm or brain hemorrhage

• Active psychiatric diagnosis

• Current psychopharmacologic treatment

• Drug or alcohol abuse

• Medical or neurological illness

• Regular use of medication (e.g., vasoconstrictive medications)

• Medication intake less than 2 weeks prior to study (5 weeks for fluoxetine) including daily non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

• Smoking more than 15 cigarettes a day

• Consumption of any alcoholic beverages in the past 24 hours will be excluded

• Elevated blood pressure (>135/90)

• Low blood pressure (<90/55)

• Body temperature >100.1 F

• Left-handed

• Claustrophobia

• Presence of metal in their body