g., Guastella et al., 2008 and Rimmele et al., 2009). Following inhalation, participants sat quietly for 45 min, the length of time it is believed to take for central oxytocin levels to plateau (Born et al., 2002). Participants were instructed to bring a book or magazine to read during this time. Following the rest period, participants completed the two face processing tasks in the same order (commencing with the face memory task), in order to ensure equality of central oxytocin levels for each
test. General affect was measured throughout the experiment using the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire (MMQ: Steyer, Schwenkmezger, Notz, find more & Eid, 1997), to assess the possible mood-altering effects of oxytocin, and to control for non-specific SB203580 research buy effects of attention and wakefulness (the MMQ is composed of three sub-scales: good–bad, awake–tired and calm–nervous). Each participant was required to complete the MMQ at three intervals across the experiment: immediately following inhalation, after the 45 min resting period, and after the two face processing tests had been completed. Finally, the experimenter enquired about adverse side effects during the testing session and again 24 h after test completion. Statistical analyses were conducted on the MMQ results collected across the testing sessions and on the behavioural data collected from the two face processing tasks. Scores on the MMQ
were calculated according to the three sub-scales, and data were entered into a 2 (spray: oxytocin, placebo) × 3 (time of MMQ completion: after inhalation, after rest, end of session) × 2 (group: DP, control) mixed factorial MANOVA. Scores for the two face processing tests were entered into a 2 (spray: oxytocin, placebo) × 2 (group: DP, control) mixed factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The data file for one DP participant
was unreadable in the placebo condition of the CFMT, and was therefore not included in the analysis of this test. Additional comparisons were carried out to investigate (a) whether DP performance Pregnenolone in the oxytocin condition fell within the same range as control placebo performance, and (b) whether the severity of each individual’s prosopagnosia correlated with the extent of their improvement on the two tasks. For the latter analyses, scores obtained on the original version of the CFMT and the CFPT (i.e., the tests run within the original diagnostic session: see Table 1) were correlated against the level of improvement in the oxytocin condition (oxytocin performance minus placebo performance) of the CFMT and matching test, respectively. Adverse side effects were only reported by one DP participant following inhalation of either spray. Specifically, this individual reported a slight headache immediately after oxytocin inhalation, but this had disappeared by the 24-h follow-up. A mixed factorial MANOVA revealed no main effect of spray or group, F(3,16) = .569, p = .643, ƞp2 = .