Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli

Healthy Adults Clinical Trial

Official title:

Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli: Investigating a Neurobehavioral Mechanism of Paranoia

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03380260
• Other study ID #: 17-44
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 1, 2017
• Est. completion date: April 1, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: April 2021
• Source: The University of Texas at Dallas
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The primary goal of the present study is to test whether neural activity in brain regions associated with processing threat and social stimuli may underlie paranoid thinking.

Description:

Paranoia is a prominent symptom of psychosis that occurs in several other diagnoses, as well as the general population, and that is associated with significant distress and impairment. Previous research suggests that increased baseline activity of the amygdala and related neural circuits may serve as a mechanism for paranoid ideation. This exploratory study will use a paranoia induction procedure in healthy individuals who vary in pre-existing levels of paranoid ideation to test whether increases in self-reported paranoia are accompanied by increases in resting cerebral blood flow (CBF), decreased stimulus-driven neural activity in social processing networks, and increased behavioral perceptions of untrustworthiness.

Participants will be randomly assigned to participate in a paranoia induction procedure or a control condition and will then complete neuroimaging and behavioral assessments.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 70
• Est. completion date: April 1, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: April 1, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 55 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• between the ages of 18 and 55

Exclusion Criteria:

• current psychiatric diagnosis

• current use of psychotropic medications

• history of head trauma with loss of consciousness for more than 15 minutes

• presence of neurological or neurodegenerative disorder

• sensory impairments that preclude assessment

• presence of intellectual disability

• contraindications for MRI (e.g., metallic implants or pregnancy)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy Adults

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Paranoia Induction
Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Advanced Research Imaging Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School	Dallas	Texas

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of Texas at Dallas

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Resting cerebral blood flow (CBF)	CBF in amygdala and related neural circuits	CBF measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 9 minutes.
Secondary	Amount of Neural Activity	Task-related activation of amygdala and related neural circuits measured with blood-oxygenation-level-dependent imaging	Measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 25 minutes.
Secondary	Ratings of Trustworthiness	Behavioral perceptions of the trustworthiness of others	Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 12 minutes.
Secondary	Self-reported paranoid ideation		Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 5 minutes.