Intranasal Oxytocin Increases Head Motion During Functional MRI Scanning

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychopharmacology

Background:

• Oxytocin, a neuropeptide, influences social behaviors.
• Intranasal oxytocin is frequently used in functional MRI (fMRI) studies of brain activity.
• Head motion is a critical confound in fMRI data acquisition.

Approach:

• A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study investigated head motion in 24 mothers with drug addiction and 22 healthy controls.
• Participants received intranasal oxytocin or placebo before viewing infant faces.
• Head motion was quantified using framewise displacement.

Key Points:

• Intranasal oxytocin administration was associated with increased head motion (exceeding 3 mm framewise displacement), independent of participant group.
• The addiction group exhibited higher overall head motion compared to controls, irrespective of oxytocin or placebo.
• Oxytocin's effect on mean head motion was significant only in the addiction group, indicating a group-by-condition interaction.

Conclusions:

• Intranasal oxytocin may confound fMRI results by independently increasing head motion.
• Findings suggest careful consideration of head motion artifacts in oxytocin fMRI research, particularly in clinical populations.
• Replication in diverse clinical populations is recommended.