Mind over matter: can belief alone reduce empathic pain?

NCT ID NCT07367672

Recruiting now Knowledge-focused Sponsor: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study looks at how our beliefs and expectations influence the pain we feel when watching others suffer. Healthy adults will be placed in one of three groups: no treatment, a placebo nasal spray, or a spray with oxytocin. All participants in the spray groups are told they are getting oxytocin, a pain reliever. While in an MRI scanner, they watch videos of people in pain and rate their own discomfort. The goal is to understand how the brain processes empathic pain and how expectation can change it.

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As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS

Contacts and locations

Locations

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION

Chengdu, China
Weihua Zhao
RECRUITING

Chengdu, Sichuan, 611731, China

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