Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

The proposed study involves experimentally manipulating reproductive hormones in nonpregnant, euthymic women to create a scaled down version of the changes that occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This endocrine manipulation paradigm, which the investigators have shown provokes irritability in past studies, will be used to examine the neurocircuitry underlying irritability under baseline and hormone challenge conditions among women who are hormone sensitive (HS+; n=15) and non-hormone sensitive (HS-; n=15). The long-term goal of this research is to advance understanding of the neural systems underlying both the triggering of and susceptibility to irritability in women. The objective of the current project is to examine whether HS+ show differences in the behavioral activation system relative to HS- under baseline and hormone challenge conditions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral tests.


Clinical Trial Description

Irritability, defined as a predisposition to exhibit anger, is a prominent, defining symptom of perinatal depression (PND) and many other neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite the near ubiquity of irritability across disorders, the neural dysfunction underlying the vulnerability to, onset of, and exacerbation of irritability is understudied and poorly understood. The proposed study involves experimentally manipulating reproductive hormones in nonpregnant, euthymic women to create a scaled down version of the changes that occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This endocrine manipulation paradigm, which the investigators have shown provokes irritability in past studies, will be used to examine the neurocircuitry underlying irritability under baseline and hormone challenge conditions among women who are hormone sensitive (HS+; n=15) and non-hormone sensitive (HS-; n=15). The long-term goal of this research is to advance understanding of the neural systems underlying both the triggering of and susceptibility to irritability in women. The objective of the current project is to examine whether HS+ show differences in the behavioral activation system relative to HS- under baseline and hormone challenge conditions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral tests. The investigator's central hypothesis is that reproductive hormone changes are associated with dysregulated threat and reward processing and consequent irritability in HS+. The rationale for the proposed study is that employing a scaled down model of puerperal hormonal events permits the identification of a group of individuals homogeneous for hormone sensitivity (HS+), hence creating the best opportunity for disentangling the specific changes in brain function due to reproductive hormones (i.e., HS-) from those accompanying reproductive hormone-precipitated affective dysfunction (i.e., HS+). Because women will act as their own controls across time, this study design also allows for a powerful evaluation of state and trait variables that may contribute to irritability, including both threat and reward processing. Identifying both state and trait markers of irritability, and disentangling them from the effects of reproductive hormones on brain and behavior, will allow for the identification of neural substrates of irritability susceptibility that can be investigated across neuropsychiatric disorders. The expected outcome of this research is the identification of neural circuits underlying both the susceptibility to and mediation of irritability. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT04051320
Study type Interventional
Source University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Contact
Status Completed
Phase Phase 2
Start date January 2, 2020
Completion date July 19, 2022

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Active, not recruiting NCT05777044 - The Effect of Hatha Yoga on Mental Health N/A
Recruiting NCT04680611 - Severe Asthma, MepolizumaB and Affect: SAMBA Study
Recruiting NCT04977232 - Adjunctive Game Intervention for Anhedonia in MDD Patients N/A
Recruiting NCT04043052 - Mobile Technologies and Post-stroke Depression N/A
Completed NCT04512768 - Treating Comorbid Insomnia in Transdiagnostic Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy N/A
Recruiting NCT03207828 - Testing Interventions for Patients With Fibromyalgia and Depression N/A
Completed NCT04617015 - Defining and Treating Depression-related Asthma Early Phase 1
Recruiting NCT06011681 - The Rapid Diagnosis of MCI and Depression in Patients Ages 60 and Over
Completed NCT04476446 - An Expanded Access Protocol for Esketamine Treatment in Participants With Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) Who do Not Have Other Treatment Alternatives Phase 3
Recruiting NCT02783430 - Evaluation of the Initial Prescription of Ketamine and Milnacipran in Depression in Patients With a Progressive Disease Phase 2/Phase 3
Recruiting NCT05563805 - Exploring Virtual Reality Adventure Training Exergaming N/A
Completed NCT04598165 - Mobile WACh NEO: Mobile Solutions for Neonatal Health and Maternal Support N/A
Completed NCT03457714 - Guided Internet Delivered Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy for Persons With Spinal Cord Injury: A Feasibility Trial
Recruiting NCT05956912 - Implementing Group Metacognitive Therapy in Cardiac Rehabilitation Services (PATHWAY-Beacons)
Completed NCT05588622 - Meru Health Program for Cancer Patients With Depression and Anxiety N/A
Recruiting NCT05234476 - Behavioral Activation Plus Savoring for University Students N/A
Active, not recruiting NCT05006976 - A Naturalistic Trial of Nudging Clinicians in the Norwegian Sickness Absence Clinic. The NSAC Nudge Study N/A
Enrolling by invitation NCT03276585 - Night in Japan Home Sleep Monitoring Study
Terminated NCT03275571 - HIV, Computerized Depression Therapy & Cognition N/A
Completed NCT03167372 - Pilot Comparison of N-of-1 Trials of Light Therapy N/A