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

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.

NCT Number	NCT07367672
Lead Sponsor	University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Conditions	Healthy Participants
Enrollment	120 participants
Start Date	2025-12-01
Primary Completion	2026-02-20 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-03-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-01-26