Effects of intranasal arginine vasopressin on reversal learning and feedback processing in individuals with compulsive tendencies
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the effects of intranasal arginine vasopressin (AVP) on reversal learning and feedback processing in healthy adults with varying levels of compulsive tendencies. By combining behavioral measures, computational modeling, and electroencephalography (EEG), the study will examine how AVP influences value updating and action selection. Particular attention will be given to whether these effects depend on environmental stability and individual compulsive tendencies, and whether behavioral differences are accompanied by changes in feedback-related neural activity. The study uses a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group design. Following informed consent and baseline assessment, eligible healthy adult volunteers will be randomly assigned to receive a single intranasal dose of 20 IU AVP or an equivalent amount of placebo. Baseline assessments include the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), the Padua Inventory (PI), and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), which assess obsessive-compulsive symptoms and intolerance of uncertainty. Participants will be classified into high (OCI-R ≥21) and low (OCI-R <21) compulsive-tendency groups for analysis. This grouping serves to examine individual differences and does not constitute a clinical diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Experimental tasks will begin approximately 35 minutes after intranasal administration, with resting-state and task-related EEG recorded. The probabilistic reversal-learning task comprises 250 experimental trials across stable and volatile learning environments: 150 trials in the stable phase and 100 trials in the volatile phase. During the volatile phase, choice–reward contingencies will change every 25 trials. Participants will use trial-by-trial feedback to adjust their choices and maximize reward points. Choice accuracy, reaction times, choices, and feedback outcomes will be recorded to assess learning performance and behavioral adaptation across environments. Choice accuracy will serve as the primary behavioral measure, with reaction time as a supplementary measure. Mixed-design analyses of variance incorporating drug treatment, compulsive tendency, and learning environment will assess treatment effects and their interactions with individual characteristics and environmental conditions. A hierarchical Bayesian reward–punishment reinforcement-learning model will estimate reward learning rate, punishment learning rate, and inverse temperature, distinguishing value updating following positive and negative feedback from value-guided choice consistency. EEG will be acquired using a 64-channel recording system and preprocessed using MNE-Python. Feedback-locked event-related potentials, including P2, feedback-related negativity (FRN), and P300, will be extracted to examine the effects of drug treatment, compulsive tendency, learning environment, and feedback type on neural activity. Integrating behavioral performance, computational parameters, and feedback-related EEG measures, the study will test whether AVP alters the neural modulation of feedback processing in individuals with high compulsive tendencies and inform understanding of the neuropeptide mechanisms underlying compulsivity-related cognitive flexibility.
Institutions: South China Normal University, Liaoning Normal University
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225813006
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