Objectives: Both human and animal studies have suggested that oxytocin may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of schizophrenia. We evaluated the effects of intranasal oxytocin on cognition and its predictive factors in Japanese patients with schizophrenia.
Methods: Subjects were 16 chronic schizophrenia patients who underwent intranasal oxytocin treatment for 3 months and were assessed for changes in severity of clinical symptoms and cognitions. Fifteen of the 16 subjects underwent 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging.
Results: Oxytocin significantly reduced scores on the positive and negative syndrome scale, especially on the negative symptoms. As for cognition, there was an improvement of the verbal fluency. Furthermore, the change of the negative score in positive and negative syndrome scale showed a negative correlation with the gray matter volumes of the right insula and left cingulate cortex.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that daily administration of intranasal oxytocin may be effective for ameliorating clinical symptoms and cognitive functions in chronic schizophrenia patients, and this improvement may be related to the gray matter volume of the right insula and left cingulate cortex.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00325481.2018.1398592 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Impact of chronic intranasal oxytocin administration on face expression processing in autistic children: a randomized controlled trial using fMRI.
Mol Autism
December 2024
Department of Neurosciences, Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Background: Difficulties with (non-verbal) social communication, including facial expression processing, constitute a hallmark of autism. Intranasal administration of oxytocin has been considered a potential therapeutic option for improving social difficulties in autism, either by enhancing the salience of social cues or by reducing the social stress and anxiety experienced in social encounters.
Methods: We recorded fMRI brain activity while presenting neutral, fearful and scrambled faces, to compare the neural face processing signature of autistic children (n = 58) with that of matched non-autistic controls (n = 38).
Intranasal oxytocin alleviates postsurgical pain and comorbid anxiety in mice: Participation of BK(Ca) channels in the hippocampus.
Neuropharmacology
December 2024
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Fuzong Clinical Medical College (900th Hospital of the Joint Logistic Support Force), Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, PR China.
The affective dimension in postsurgical pain is still poorly understood. Since neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) has been implicated in a broad spectrum of pain and negative emotion, we investigated the potential therapeutic effect of intranasal OXT on postsurgical pain and associated anxiety in a mice model of plantar incision. The role of large conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK(Ca)) channels was explored by using behavioral pharmacology experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxytocin Reduces Methylphenidate-Induced Dorsal Striatal Dopamine Release in Male Rhesus Macaques.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol
December 2024
Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Article Synopsis
- Oxytocin is being studied as a potential treatment for psychostimulant use disorders, particularly its effects on dopamine signaling in the striatum, a brain region linked to natural rewards.
- In a study involving male rhesus macaques, oxytocin was administered both intranasally and intravenously before administering methylphenidate, a stimulant similar to cocaine, and the impacts on dopamine release were monitored.
- Results showed that oxytocin significantly decreased dopamine release in the dorsal striatum when stimulated by methylphenidate, suggesting oxytocin may be useful in treating addictions to psychostimulants.
Maternal care is associated with neural and behavioral effects of oxytocin administration during empathic accuracy in schizophrenia and controls.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
November 2024
University of California, San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry, USA; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA; UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, USA. Electronic address:
Article Synopsis
- * The study examined whether oxytocin, delivered intranasally, could enhance empathic accuracy in those with schizophrenia compared to a placebo, while considering the influence of early maternal care.
- * Results showed no overall improvement in empathic accuracy from oxytocin for either group; however, those with better maternal care had the most notable improvements, suggesting early social experiences can affect responses to oxytocin treatment.
ELECTROMAGNETIC STIMULATION REGULATES BLOOD CORTICOSTERONE LEVELS IN IMMOBILIZED RATS: GENDER DIFFERENCES.
Georgian Med News
September 2024
3Tbilisi State University, Georgia.
A mental disorder is a condition that affects an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, causing distress or impairing main areas of functioning. The effects of electromagnetic stimulation (EMS) and oxytocin (OXY) on blood corticosterone (CORT) levels in immobilized (10 days, 2 hours a day or one time, 2 hours) male and female rats while accounting for their sex hormone levels were studied. The experiments were conducted on intact and gonadectomized rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!