Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CBF, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CCM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Transl Psychiatry. 2023 Feb 4;13(1):42. doi: 10.1038/s41398-023-02339-z.
Oxytocin administration during a trauma analogue has been shown to increase intrusive memories, which are a core symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unknown whether oxytocin influences the acquisition or the consolidation of the trauma. The current study investigates the effect of the activation of the oxytocin system during the consolidation of an analogue trauma on the formation of intrusive memories over four consecutive days and whether this effect is influenced by individual neurobiological, genetic, or psychological factors. We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study in 217 healthy women. They received either a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo after exposure to a trauma film paradigm, which reliably induces intrusive memories. We used a general random forest to examine a potential heterogeneous treatment effect of oxytocin on the consolidation of intrusive memories. Furthermore, we used a poisson regression to examine whether salivary alpha amylase activity (sAA) as a marker of noradrenergic activity and cortisol response to the film, polygenic risk score (PRS) for psychiatric disorders, and psychological factors influence the number of intrusive memories. We found no significant effect of oxytocin on the formation of intrusive memories (F(2, 543.16) = 0.75, p = 0.51, ηp2 = 0.00) and identified no heterogeneous treatment effect. We replicated previous associations of the PRS for PTSD, sAA and the cortisol response on intrusive memories. We further found a positive association between high trait anxiety and intrusive memories, and a negative association between the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal and intrusive memories. Data of the present study suggest that the consolidation of intrusive memories in women is modulated by genetic, neurobiological and psychological factors, but is not influenced by oxytocin. Trial registration: NCT03875391.
在创伤模拟中给予催产素已被证明会增加侵入性记忆，这是创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的核心症状。然而，目前尚不清楚催产素是否会影响创伤的获得或巩固。本研究旨在探讨在模拟创伤的巩固过程中激活催产素系统对连续四天内侵入性记忆形成的影响，以及这种影响是否受到个体神经生物学、遗传或心理因素的影响。我们在 217 名健康女性中进行了一项随机、双盲、安慰剂对照研究。她们在观看创伤电影范式后接受了一次鼻腔内催产素（24IU）或安慰剂治疗，该范式可靠地诱导了侵入性记忆。我们使用广义随机森林来检查催产素对侵入性记忆巩固的潜在异质治疗效果。此外，我们使用泊松回归来检查唾液α淀粉酶活性（sAA）作为去甲肾上腺素活动的标志物以及对电影的皮质醇反应、精神障碍的多基因风险评分（PRS）和心理因素是否会影响侵入性记忆的数量。我们没有发现催产素对侵入性记忆形成有显著影响（F(2, 543.16) = 0.75, p = 0.51, ηp2 = 0.00），也没有发现异质治疗效果。我们复制了先前关于 PTSD、sAA 和皮质醇反应的 PRS 与侵入性记忆之间的关联。我们还发现高特质焦虑与侵入性记忆呈正相关，而情绪调节策略重评与侵入性记忆呈负相关。本研究的数据表明，女性侵入性记忆的巩固受到遗传、神经生物学和心理因素的调节，但不受催产素的影响。试验注册：NCT03875391。
