Imagery Vividness and Arousal Responses to Prospective Imagery

Healthy Clinical Trial

Official title:

Imagery Vividness and Arousal Responses to Prospective Imagery

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04370613
• Other study ID #: 2019-06507
• Status: Completed
• Start date: October 5, 2020
• Est. completion date: October 15, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: October 2021
• Source: Uppsala University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Research has shown that mental imagery appears to carry emotion better than verbal communication. One way this can be noted is that emotional mental imagery trigger physiological arousal responses. These may be important for treatment techniques using mental imagery, such as imaginal exposure and imagery re-scripting. However, as the development of clinical applications increasingly considers the use of flashpoint imagery, i.e. mental imagery of short duration, it is of interest to examine whether also flashpoint imagery trigger arousal responses. This study examines the arousal response to flashpoint imagery of different valence (positive, negative, and neutral).

Moreover, emerging evidence suggest that depressed individuals find it more difficult to produce mental imagery of positive future events (less accessible and vivid) than healthy controls. In addition, individuals with clinical anxiety appear to be able to produce imagery of negative future events more easily than healthy controls. This study explores whether these results can be noted also in sub-clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety, and if so, if they are accompanied with corresponding changes in arousal responses.

Description:

This study takes part in a single session. Participants will produce flashpoint imagery of future events while skin conductance responses, imagery vividness ratings, valence and arousal ratings are collected. Participants will also fill in questionnaires on depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as a questionnaire measuring general propensity for mental imagery.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 60
• Est. completion date: October 15, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: October 15, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 or over

• Fluent in Swedish

• Willing and able to provide informed consent and complete study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current psychiatric disorder

• Current use of psychotropic medication

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Prospective Imagery visualization task
Participant visualizes brief mental imagery of prospective situations of different valence (neutral, positive, negative).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sweden	Uppsala University, Department of Psychology	Uppsala

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Uppsala University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sweden, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Imagery vividness ratings	Scale: 1-5; no image at all - image as clear and vivd as real life	Day 1
Primary	Skin conductance response (SCR)	SCR is used to measure physiological arousal response to the mental imagery production. The study evaluates differences in SCR between valences of prospective imagery (neutral, negative, positive) and possible covariation with self-rated anxiety or depression symptoms.	Day 1
Secondary	Time in seconds it takes to construct a situation to visualize	Measured as the time period from the presentation of the instruction until the participant reports a constructed situation.	Day 1
Secondary	Subjective Valence Ratings	Subjective Valence Ratings for each produced mental imagery (0-100; negative to positive)	Day 1
Secondary	Subjective Arousal Ratings	Subjective Arousal Ratings for each produced mental imagery (0-100; 0=no arousal, 100=maximum arousal)	Day 1
Secondary	The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire	This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring vividness of visual mental imagery. Higher scores indicate higher level of vividness (range 0-80)	Day 1
Secondary	State-Trait Anxiety Inventory	This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring trait anxiety. Higher scores indicate higher level of trait anxiety (range 20-80)	Day 1
Secondary	Formulär för patienthälsa (PHQ-9)	This is a self-rated questionnaire for measuring depression symptoms. Higher scores indicate more symptoms of depression (range 0-27 + specific question of how disabling the symptoms are)	Day 1