Tol, E. van (Eva) (2014) De effecten van intranasale oxytocine toediening op de deceleratieve hartslagrespons bij het kijken naar afbeeldingen met een affectieve inhoud: een studie naar de modererende effecten van de oxytocine- en testosteron baselinewaarde. thesis, Medicine.
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Abstract
Background: Oxytocin appears to be involved in social and emotional functioning. Given that deficits in social interaction belong to the core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) this suggest that oxytocin might be implicated in the etiology and treatment of ASD. Also, fetal testosterone levels seem to play a role in shaping the neural mechanisms underlying social development. Besides, testosterone levels seem to have en inhibitory effect on the neuroendocrine oxytocin system. In this study we investigate if baseline oxytocine and/or testosterone levels are a moderator of the effect of oxytocin treatment on the cardiac evoked orienting response. Method: The cardiac responses were obtained from 30 healthy males while they were watching pictures from the ‘International Affective Picture System’ (IAPS). The pictures had a positive, negative or neutral valence, with or without humans being portrayed. Before starting the task, a single dose of a placebo or oxytocin (24IU) was administered intranasally. Results: Subjects with higher baseline oxytocin levels showed a greater effect in the decelerative cardiac evoked response to negative images compared to subjects with lower baseline oxytocin levels. Subjects with higher baseline total testosterone levels showed a significantly weaker cardiac respons to pictures with humans than participants with a lower baseline testosterone level. These subjects however, appeared to be sensitive to nasally administered oxytocin. They showed a greater effect in the decelerative cardiac evoked response if they watched pictured which portrayed humans, when oxytocin was administered. No significant correlations were found between baseline oxytocin or testosterone levels and the scores of questionnaires of empathy. Conclusion: Our results suggest that in particular, subjects with a low baseline oxytocin level and a high baseline total testosterone levels seem to benefit from a treatment with oxytocin. This moreover suggests that, given that people with ASD have lower plasma oxytocin levels and higher testosterone levels, people with ASD might benefit from a treatment with oxytocin. Future research is needed to determine other potential moderators of the oxytocin treatment effect, before an oxytocin treatment can be a pharmaceutical possibility.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Althaus, Monika |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2020 10:49 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2020 10:49 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1006 |
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