Effects of oral vasopressin on visual perception of threatening stimuli

Vasopressin Modulates Neural Responses to Looming Visual Stimuli: An Eye-tracking Study

This study is testing if a medication called vasopressin can change how healthy people see and react to threatening images compared to a placebo.

Quick facts

• Phase: Not applicable
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 80 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years to 40 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Academic / other)
• Locations: 1 site (Chendu, Sichuan)
• Trial ID: NCT06329063 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This study investigates how orally administered vasopressin affects the perception of time-to-collision for threatening and non-threatening visual stimuli using an eye-tracking approach. Healthy participants will be randomly assigned to receive either vasopressin or a placebo before engaging in a task that presents various looming stimuli. The study aims to explore the interaction between emotional responses and temporal perception in a controlled, double-blind setting. The findings could provide insights into the socio-emotional processes influenced by vasopressin.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates are healthy individuals who can provide informed consent and have normal or corrected vision.

Not a fit: Patients with a history of neuropsychiatric, cardiac, hepatic, or renal diseases, as well as those with certain hormonal imbalances, will not benefit from this study.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this study could enhance our understanding of how vasopressin influences emotional perception and potentially lead to new therapeutic strategies for emotional and anxiety disorders.

How similar studies have performed: While the role of vasopressin in socio-emotional processes has been suggested in animal models, this specific approach using eye-tracking with looming stimuli is novel and has not been extensively tested in prior studies.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Healthy subjects who volunteer to participate and are able to fully understand and agree with this study by written informed consent.
* Normal or corrected-normal version

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of neuropsychiatric diseases.
* History of cardiac disease, including arrhythmias, aortic stenosis, or congestive heart failure; history of syncope or unexplained loss of consciousness.
* History of hepatic diseases, including cholestasis, biliary obstructive disease, or severe liver dysfunction.
* History of renal diseases, including renal stones or renal failure.
* History of hyponatremia(Serum sodium \<135mmol/L) or hyperkalemia (Serum potassium\>5.5mmol/L); history of diabetes mellitus or diabetes insipidus
* Known hypersensitivity or allergic reaction to any medication or hormone; strong allergic reaction to food.
* Infections such as COVID-19 or influenza, or unexplained fever.
* Subjects with hypertension (BP ≥130/80mmHg) or hypotension (BP ≤ 90/60mmHg).
* History of alcohol or drug abuse; smoker (≥ 10 cigarettes or ≥ 3 cigars or ≥ 3 pipes/day); smoker using e-cigarettes.

Where this trial is running

Chendu, Sichuan

• University of Electronic Science and Technology of China — Chendu, Sichuan, China (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Benjamin Becker, Dr — University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
• Study coordinator: Weihua Zhao, Dr

Conditions Healthy; Eye-tracking; vasopressin; looming fear