Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Healthy Adults
• Interventions: Behavioral: Paranoia Induction

• Registration Number: NCT03380260
• Lead Sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas

Brief 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.

Detailed 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2017-06-01
• Study First Submitted: 2017-12-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-12-15
• Study First Posted: 2017-12-21
• Primary Completion: 2019-04-01
• Study Completion: 2019-04-01
• Status Verified: 2021-04
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-04-26
• Last Update Posted: 2021-04-28

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 70

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)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Paranoia Induction	Paranoia Induction	Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Resting cerebral blood flow (CBF)	CBF measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 9 minutes.	CBF in amygdala and related neural circuits

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Self-reported paranoid ideation	Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 5 minutes.
Amount of Neural Activity	Measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 25 minutes.	Task-related activation of amygdala and related neural circuits measured with blood-oxygenation-level-dependent imaging
Ratings of Trustworthiness	Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 12 minutes.	Behavioral perceptions of the trustworthiness of others

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Advanced Research Imaging Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School; 🇺🇸 Dallas, Texas, United States