The Power of Belief: Expectation-driven and Placebo Modulation of Empathic Pain

NCT07367672 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: UESTC-neuSCAN-102
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This study investigates how belief and expectation influence empathic pain-the pain we feel when observing others in distress. Healthy adult participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: no-treatment control, placebo nasal spray, oxytocin-containing nasal spray. Participants in both the placebo and oxytocin conditions will be informed that they are receiving oxytocin, described as a potent agent for pain relief. During functional MRI scanning, all participants will view naturalistic pain-related videos and provide ratings of perceived subjective pain. The study aims to examine how cognitive beliefs and neuromodulatory interventions alter subjective pain experience and brain activity, including changes in brain network communication.

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Keywords

Analgesic expectation; Empathic pain; fMRI; Oxytocin; Placebo

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Analgesia-weighted empathic pain ratings (R')

  Subjective pain ratings for each stimulus adjusted for treatment-specific baseline and analgesia-dependent gain to capture individual sensitivity to expectation-driven analgesia.

  During fMRI scanning (45 minutes follollowing treament adminstration), for each video stimulus presentation

• Whole-brain multivariate predictive patterns

  Partial least squares regression (PLSR) will be applied to voxel-wise fMRI contrast maps to identify latent components that predict analgesia-weighted pain scores under different interventions.

  During fMRI scanning (45 minutes follollowing treament adminstration), analyzed post-session

• Directed functional connectivity and network hierarchy

  Lagged partial-correlation directionality analysis (LPC-DA) among key regions identified by PLSR will quantify top-down and bottom-up information flow in empathic pain circuits.

  During fMRI scanning (45 minutes follollowing treament adminstration), analyzed post-session

Study Arms (3)

Intranasal Oxytocin

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Administer oxytocin (24 IU) intranasally.

Drug: Intranasal Oxytocin (OT) 24 IU

Intranasal placebo

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Administer placebo intranasally.

Drug: Intranasal placebo administration

Intranasal nothing (control)

NO INTERVENTION

Control condition

Interventions

Intranasal Oxytocin (OT) 24 IU DRUG

Administer oxytocin (24 IU) intranasally, 6 individual 0.1 ml puffs (4 IU/0. 1ml), three puffs per nostril one every 30 seconds. The participants will be informed that they are receiving oxytocin, described as a potent agent for pain relief.

Also known as: Intranasal Oxytocin

Intranasal Oxytocin

Intranasal placebo administration DRUG

Administer placebo intranasally, 6 individual 0.1 ml puffs, three puffs per nostril one every 30 seconds. The participants will be informed that they are receiving oxytocin, described as a potent agent for pain relief.

Also known as: Intranasal placebo

Intranasal placebo

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Gender Eligibility Details: Eligibility is based on biological sex. Both male and female participants are eligible. Female participants must confirm that they are not pregnant, not using hormonal contraceptives, and not menstruating during the study period.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• (1) Healthy subjects without any past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders; (2) Healthy subjects without any current psychotherapeutic medication.

You may not qualify if:

• (1) Participant with any past or present psychiatric or neurological disorders; (2)Participant with any current psychotherapeutic medication.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Electronic Science and Technology of China: lead

Study Sites (2)

Weihua Zhao

Chengdu, Sichuan, 611731, China

RECRUITING

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Chengdu, China

ENROLLING BY INVITATION

Study Officials

• Siying Wang

  University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

  STUDY CHAIR

Central Study Contacts

Weihua Zhao

CONTACT

+8618780247797; zarazhao@uestc.edu.cn

Keith Kendrick

CONTACT

+86-28-61830811; k.kendrick.uestc@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The placebo (PLC) and oxytocin (OXT) spray conditions were conducted under a single-blind design due to all participants in both the placebo and oxytocin conditions will be informed that they are receiving oxytocin, described as a potent agent for pain relief.
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: The placebo (PLC) and oxytocin (OXT) spray conditions were conducted under a single-blind design due to all participants in both the placebo and oxytocin conditions will be informed that they are receiving oxytocin, described as a potent agent for pain relief.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 26, 2025
• First Posted: January 26, 2026
• Study Start: December 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: February 20, 2026
• Study Completion: March 30, 2026
• Last Updated: January 26, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (2)