Oxytocin MEG Study

During tasks in which participants will see and hear various stimuli, investigators will measure the change in neural activity in the amygdala, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, as well as the fusiform gyrus using the MEG scanner.

In the Facial Recognition Task, subjects will be presented with various computerized emotional stimuli and will be asked to make a choice. Participants will then respond to the stimuli by pressing a either left or right on the control box and their reaction time will be measured.

In the IAPS Tasks, subjects will view images of people, objects, and scenes from the IAPS (International Affective Picture System). Participants will then respond by pressing a either left or right on the control box to chose a number from 1 (i.e. least disturbing) to 9 (i.e. most disturbing) and their reaction time will be measured.

The UCLA Loneliness Scale assesses the loneliness level of participants. It is a 20-item scale where responses are measured from O ("I often feel this way") to N ("I never feel this way").

The ECR is used to evaluate the construct of adult attachment. The scale involves 36 itemized statements split into four parts, each part referring to a different attachment figure. Participants rank each item using a 7-point likert scale.

The CTQ is a brief survey of 6 early traumatic experiences, including death, divorce, violence, sexual abuse, illness or other. The scale determines and assesses an individual's understanding of their childhood trauma, if applicable.

The PBI measures fundamental parenting styles as perceived the child. The questionnaire is retrospective in that it asks the adult participant to answer the questions based on how they remember their parents to be during up until they were 16 years old. The measure is completed for both mothers and fathers separately. There are 25 questions where half the questions are focused on how the parent cared for them and half are focused on how the parents protected them. A likert scale is used to measure responses where 1 is agree (i.e. very like) and 4 is disagree (i.e. very dislike).

The EQ is a 60-item self-report questionnaire that is designed to measure empathy in adults. Participants use a 4 item likert scale to record their responses (1=definitely agree, 4= definitely disagree).

The FNDT is the standard measure of an individual's physical addiction to nicotine. The test contains six items to evaluate the quantity of cigarette consumption, the compulsion to use, and dependence.

The QLS is a 21-item clinical rating scale where the interviewer rates the participant's responses on a scale of 1-6 where 6 indicates no impairment. In this study, an abbreviated version of the QLS is used that includes 9 of the 21 items. The 9 items are each derived from the sections examining interpersonal relations, occupational role functioning, intrapsychic foundations, and common objects.

The SFS is designed to assess a subject's social skills and performance, and to measure functions that are of importance for schizophrenic patients. It is a 79-item scale completed by the subject.