Effects of intranasal oxytocin on fear extinction learning
Mahmoud Rashidi; Joe J. Simon; Katja Bertsch; Gerhard Vincent Wegen; Beate Ditzen; Herta Flor; Valery Grinevich; Robert Christian Wolf; Sabine C. Herpertz · Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024 · Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial
Original publication · Original publication · Original publication · Original publication
Recorded summary
In 124 healthy women, intranasal oxytocin impaired fear-extinction learning relative to placebo. The result challenges the assumption that oxytocin uniformly improves extinction and highlights the importance of timing and experimental context.
Recorded limitations
Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
Evidence and provenance
Chapter Trust Factor uses a minimum of three distinct qualifying studies. Publication records retain their own evidence and assessment.
Study design and assessment
- design
- Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial
- assessment
- category
- double-blind-rct
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- reviewed At
- 2026-10-23
- trust Factor
- score
- 3
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- double
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/ · https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- jadad
- status
- unassessed
- score
- Not recorded
- evidence
- evidence Type
- Brain & nervous system
- sample
- 124 healthy women
- measurement
- Fear conditioning and extinction responses
- measured Genes
- None recorded
- relationship Note
- Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
- source URLs
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- checked At
- 2026-10-23
Topics and recorded topic scores
- key
- general:neurotransmitter-signalling
- title
- Oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine signalling
- collection
- general
- trust Score
- 1
Citation snapshot and identifiers
- id
- pmid-39313675
- doi
- 10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- pmid
- 39313675
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 8
- source
- Crossref
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-23
- url
- https://api.crossref.org/works/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- citations By Collection
- general
- 8
Complete approved library record
- id
- pmid-39313675
- aliases
- None recorded
- title
- Effects of intranasal oxytocin on fear extinction learning
- journal
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- publisher Family
- nature
- publisher Family Label
- Nature Portfolio
- neurotransmitters
Oxytocin
- year
- 2024
- authors
- Mahmoud Rashidi; Joe J. Simon; Katja Bertsch; Gerhard Vincent Wegen; Beate Ditzen; Herta Flor; Valery Grinevich; Robert Christian Wolf; Sabine C. Herpertz
- design
- Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial
- kind
- Journal article
- identity Conflict
- Not recorded
- doi
- 10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- pmid
- 39313675
- urls
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- collections
general
- categories
Brain & nervous system
- targets
- None recorded
- priority
- 1
- quotes
- None recorded
- summary
- In 124 healthy women, intranasal oxytocin impaired fear-extinction learning relative to placebo. The result challenges the assumption that oxytocin uniformly improves extinction and highlights the importance of timing and experimental context.
- limitation
- Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
- citation Count
- 8
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 8
- source
- Crossref
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-23
- url
- https://api.crossref.org/works/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- study Design Assessment
- category
- double-blind-rct
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- reviewed At
- 2026-10-23
- paper Trust Assessment
- score
- 3
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- double
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/ · https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- citations By Collection
- general
- 8
- topics
- key
- general:neurotransmitter-signalling
- title
- Oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine signalling
- collection
- general
- trust Score
- 1
- journal Key
- neuropsychopharmacology
- journal Label
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- chapter Entries
- title
- Effects of intranasal oxytocin on fear extinction learning
- journal
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- year
- 2024
- authors
- Mahmoud Rashidi; Joe J. Simon; Katja Bertsch; Gerhard Vincent Wegen; Beate Ditzen; Herta Flor; Valery Grinevich; Robert Christian Wolf; Sabine C. Herpertz
- design
- Double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial
- urls
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- doi
- 10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- pmid
- 39313675
- targets
- None recorded
- neurotransmitters
Oxytocin
- categories
Brain & nervous system
- citation Count
- 8
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 8
- source
- Crossref
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-23
- url
- https://api.crossref.org/works/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y
- study Design Assessment
- category
- double-blind-rct
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- reviewed At
- 2026-10-23
- evidence
- evidence Type
- Brain & nervous system
- sample
- 124 healthy women
- measurement
- Fear conditioning and extinction responses
- measured Genes
- None recorded
- relationship Note
- Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
- source URLs
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- checked At
- 2026-10-23
- id
- general-neurotransmitter-signalling-pmid-39313675
- record Id
- pmid-39313675
- quotes
- None recorded
- source Pages
- None recorded
- summary
- In 124 healthy women, intranasal oxytocin impaired fear-extinction learning relative to placebo. The result challenges the assumption that oxytocin uniformly improves extinction and highlights the importance of timing and experimental context.
- limitation
- Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
- paper Trust Assessment
- score
- 3
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- double
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human experiment. Its outcome is laboratory fear extinction.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/ · https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- collection
- general
- chapter Number
- 8
- topic Id
- neurotransmitter-signalling
- topic Title
- Oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine signalling
- trust Score
- 1
- evidence
- evidence Type
- Brain & nervous system
- sample
- 124 healthy women
- measurement
- Fear conditioning and extinction responses
- measured Genes
- None recorded
- relationship Note
- Healthy participants completed a laboratory conditioning task. The trial did not test a clinical PTSD treatment or measure gene expression.
- source URLs
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-024-01996-y · https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-024-01996-y · https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11735929/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39313675/
- checked At
- 2026-10-23
- jadad
- status
- unassessed
- score
- Not recorded
- condition Evidence
- None recorded
- conditions
- None recorded
- topic Trust Scores
1
- full Text
- status
- open-license
- retrieval Available
- true
- url
- https://pmc-oa-opendata.s3.amazonaws.com/PMC11735929.1/PMC11735929.1.xml?md5=6c8d1a14bb7479195b061fe028fabc88
- pmcid
- PMC11735929
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- CC BY
- use
- Attribution-preserving reuse
- public Fulltext Redistribution
- false
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- false
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- false
- basis
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/tools/pmcaws/
- article Rights
© This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2024 2024 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .
- sha256
- 6e831619d1389d8d4d3f6b8c93c3119b3981e59e1fd377c9ba97ec802722b424
- checked At
- 2026-10-24