The Effect of Inhibitory Control Processes Induced by Rectal Distension on Impulse Control Measured by Stroop Task Performance and Intertemporal Discounting.

Healthy Subjects Clinical Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02043561
• Other study ID #: S56275
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: January 17, 2014
• Last updated: September 7, 2017
• Start date: December 24, 2014
• Est. completion date: September 7, 2015

Study information

• Verified date: January 2014
• Source: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The aim of this study will be to investigate the effect of rectal distension, controlled by electronic barostat, on cognitive control ability in healthy subjects. We will use the Stroop task and an intertemporal choice task as standard instruments. Like bladder control and rectal control, both Stroop task performance and intertemporal choices - though very different tasks at the surface - are dependent on the conflict monitoring function of the anterior cingulate cortex. The Stroop task requires the naming of the print color of a series of visually presented color words, and reaction time and error rates are typically used as performance indicators. When word color and word meaning do not match, performance of the task (color naming) requires the inhibition of a (near) automatic response (word reading). The intertemporal choice task consists of a series of choices between a sooner smaller monetary reward and a larger but later reward. The choices are constructed such that they allow the estimation of a discount parameter, which is an index for the level of impulsiveness manifested by the participant at the time the choices are made.

The hypothesis is that the inhibition induced by the urge generated during rectal distension will improve cognitive inhibitory performance, as has previously been shown for bladder filling.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 35
• Est. completion date: September 7, 2015
• Est. primary completion date: September 7, 2015
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• healthy male and non-pregnant, non-breastfeeding female participants, aged 18-60 years old at the time of consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• use of medications within 48 h of dose initiation; structural or metabolic diseases that affect the gastrointestinal system and functional gastrointestinal disorders; previous abdominal surgery other than appendectomy, cholecystectomy, hysterectomy, or hernia repair; known illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular or lung disease; current psychiatric disorders (anxiety, depression, substance use); use of agents that influence bowel habit, i.e. anticholinergics (not including antihistamines with anticholinergic properties), spasmolytics and prokinetics in the 7 days before the study.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Healthy Subjects

Intervention

Other:
• induction of urge by rectal distension

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Belgium	University Hospitals Leuven, campus Gasthuisberg	Leuven

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Belgium, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	cognitive inhibitory performance on Stroop task (reaction time, in milliseconds) and intertemporal choice task (discount parameter, no unit)	response reaction time on Stroop task; discount parameter on intertemporal choice task	30 minutes