A Neuropsychological Characterization of Social Feedback Processing in Social Anxiety
- Conditions
- Social Anxiety
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Social feedbackBehavioral: Self-referential paradigmBehavioral: Reward vs. punishment taskBehavioral: Emotional reactivity task
- Registration Number
- NCT03547713
- Lead Sponsor
- Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center
- Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to characterize neuropsychological mechanisms (positive affect, negative affect and self-evaluation) mediating processing of social feedback in people with different levels of social anxiety, by implementing functional and structural MRI.
- Detailed Description
Social anxiety (SA) disorder is a relatively widespread emotional disorder which is associated with considerable impairment in social, educational, and occupational functioning (Kessler et al., 2005). This condition is characterized by a debilitating preoccupation with the evaluation of the self by others, ultimately leading to excessive fear and avoidance of interpersonal encounters. As opposed to healthy individuals who typically process social feedback in a positively biased manner, Individuals with high levels of SA tend to evaluate the feedback conveyed by others negatively. Such biases have a profound contribution to the maintenance of social-related concerns (Clark \& Wells, 1995).
Thus, the overreaching goal of this research is to provide a neuropsychological account of biased processing of social feedback evident in SA. To meet this goal, participants varying in their level of SA are asked to deliver a speech and evaluate it before and after receiving social feedback during an fMRI scan. Additional structural and resting-state fMRI scans, as well as physiological and psychological measures, are obtained throughout the experiment in order to explain individual differences in processing of feedback. fMRI tasks probing basic neuropsychological processes include a self-referential paradigm, wherein participants judge if different traits varying in valence and social domain (power vs. affiliation) are descriptive of them; a reward vs. punishment task, in which participants can win or lose money; and an emotional reactivity task, in which participants view faces with different emotional expressions.
The long-term goal of this study is to better delineate both neurobiological and psychological models of SA, as well as to help in directing future neuromodulation-based treatments of mood and anxiety disorders.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 58
- Healthy participants
- With different levels of social anxiety as measured by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (LSAS-SR; Fresco et al., 2001)
- Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
- Compatibility with general MRI requirements
- History of neurological or psychiatric diseases
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- SINGLE_GROUP
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Study group Emotional reactivity task social feedback and neuropsychological assessment Study group Self-referential paradigm social feedback and neuropsychological assessment Study group Social feedback social feedback and neuropsychological assessment Study group Reward vs. punishment task social feedback and neuropsychological assessment
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Change in evaluation of a public performance 1 day Rating of a public performance made on a 0-10 scale before vs. after reception of social feedback
Correlation of social feedback processing with neural indices and anxiety levels 1 day 1. Neural activation and functional connectivity measured during processing of social feedback with different values.
2. Neural activation and functional connectivity measured in fMRI tasks probing elemental neuropsychological processes:
2.A. Processing of self-descriptive traits differing in valence (positive vs. negative) and social domain (power vs. affiliation).
2.B. Response to emotional faces. 2.C. Anticipating and receiving monetary reward vs. loss. 3. Brain functional connectivity obtained during resting-state scans obtained at three time-points: a) before the speech; b) before feedback reception; c) after feedback reception.
4. We will assess the correlation between multiple measurements (i.e. anxiety levels, behavioral indices of speech evaluation bias, and the battery of fMRI tasks) by implementing multivariate and multiparametric statistical models.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Correlation of self-representation processes with neural indices and anxiety levels 1 day 1. Neural activation and functional connectivity measured during processing of social feedback with different values.
2. Neural activation and functional connectivity measured in fMRI tasks probing elemental neuropsychological processes:
b1. Processing of self-descriptive traits differing in valence (positive vs. negative) and social domain (power vs. affiliation).
b2. Response to emotional faces. b3. Anticipating and receiving monetary reward vs. loss.
3. Brain functional connectivity obtained during resting-state scans obtained at three time-points: before the speech, before feedback reception and after feedback reception.
4. We will assess the correlation between multiple measurements (i.e. anxiety levels, behavioral indices of speech evaluation bias, and the battery of fMRI tasks) by implementing multivariate and multiparametric statistical models.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Tel-Aviv Sourasky medical center
🇮🇱Tel-Aviv, Israel