Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41131747›Full record

Trial reportThe International journal of eating disorders2026

Oxytocin Effects on Food Stimulus Processing and Food Intake in Females With or Without Binge Eating Disorder.

Julia Nannt, Mechteld M van den Hoek Ostende, Brunna Tuschen-Caffier, Markus Heinrichs, Daniel Sippel, Manfred Hallschmid, Jennifer Svaldi

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The International journal of eating disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Food-Related Attentional Biases in Restrained Eaters: A Meta-Analysis.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Prefrontal Cortex Recruitment to Food Stimuli Differs in Overweight/Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Julia NanntDepartment of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2983-3383
Mechteld M van den Hoek OstendeDepartment of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3315-4394
Brunna Tuschen-CaffierDepartment of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2565-7792
Markus HeinrichsDepartment of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2137-2078
Daniel SippelDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6806-9459
Manfred HallschmidDepartment of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-1106
Jennifer SvaldiDepartment of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9819-4752

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 01GI0925Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft HA 5606/3-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft HE 5310/4-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SV 83/6-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft TU 78/11-1Open Access Publishing Fund of the University of Tübingen
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveBinge eating disorder (BED) is maintained by increased food-related incentive salience, which is reflected by an attentional bias for food. Oxytocin acutely attenuates this bias in patients with anorexia nervosa and reduces food intake in males with normal or increased body weight. However, results in individuals with BED have been inconclusive. We assessed the acute effect of oxytocin on food stimulus processing and reward-driven eating behavior in females with or without BED in a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study.

methodFemales with BED (n = 48) and female control participants with overweight (n = 46) or normal weight (n = 40) received intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) and, respectively, placebo, after an overnight fast and a standardized breakfast. In participants with a natural menstrual cycle, sessions were scheduled during consecutive luteal phases. Participants completed a food-related dot-probe task with concurrent eye tracking and a bogus taste test measuring snack intake.

resultsOxytocin compared to placebo increased dwell time bias on food stimuli in the BED relative to the overweight control group, in which this effect was reversed. Contrary to our hypothesis, oxytocin increased calorie intake across groups. Exploratory analyses indicated that the latter effect focused on females taking hormonal contraception. DISCUSSION: These results indicate disorder- and, respectively, sex-specific effects of oxytocin on food-related incentive salience and food intake and point to a role of oxytocin in binge eating pathology. They moreover suggest that sex hormones determine the acute effect of oxytocin on eating behavior in females.

Indexed as

Binge-Eating DisorderEatingFeeding BehaviorOxytocinAdministration, IntranasalAdultCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodEnergy IntakeFemaleHumansOverweightRewardYoung AdultOxytocinattentional biasbinge eating disorder (BED)food intakehormonal contraceptionmenstrual cycleoxytocin

Identifiers

PMID41131747
PMCPMC12884240

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.