Oxytocin Does Not Impact Forced-Choice Recognition Memory in an Experimental Trauma Film Paradigm with Healthy Women

Tolou Maslahati ^1* Franziska Glogau ¹ Milagros Galve Gómez ¹ Katharina Buchholz ¹ Lisa Dormann ¹ Katja Wingenfeld ¹ Christian Otte ¹ Katharina Schultebraucks ^1,2,3 Stefan Roepke ¹

• ¹ Other, Berlin, Germany
• ² Department of Psychiatry, Langone Medical Center, New York University, New York, United States
• ³ Department of Population Health, School of Medicine, New York University, New York, United States

Introduction: Traumatic experiences are thought to alter memory acquisition and consolidation.Cognitive models of PTSD suggest that voluntary and involuntary memories after trauma can be independently addressed through interventions. The administration of oxytocin before exposure to a trauma film led to more intrusive (involuntary) memories than placebo. The effect of oxytocin on voluntary memory of the traumatic film, however, remains unclear. The current study aimed to assess whether intranasal oxytocin administration facilitates forced-choice recognition memory after a trauma film paradigm.We performed a pooled analysis of two randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled studies (N = 437) to assess the impact of intranasal oxytocin administration on declarative memory. Participants received 24 I.U. of oxytocin, either 40 minutes before a trauma film paradigm or immediately afterward. We applied a forced-choice recognition task seven days after the trauma film paradigm. The task comprised pre-, peri, and post-trauma film scene details.The administration of oxytocin did not affect recognition performance for any film scene (F(2, 401) = .49, p = .61). Participants remembered significantly more peri-traumatic film details compared to pre-and post-trauma details (F(1.72, 802) = 103.38, p < .001).Discussion: Although the exogenous oxytocin administration before a trauma film has been shown to influence the acquisition of intrusive memories, it does not seem to affect the recognition memory of trauma film details. That aligns with cognitive models of PTSD, suggesting that voluntary and involuntary memory after trauma can be independently addressed through experimental interventions.