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Stress-related Predictor Profiles in Human Addiction

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Alcohol Use Disorder
Addiction
Craving
Stress Reaction
Social Stress
Risk Behavior
Relapse
Interventions
Behavioral: Barlab-Exposure
Behavioral: Trier Social Stress Test
Behavioral: Ergometer
Behavioral: Reading Newspaper
Registration Number
NCT03810924
Lead Sponsor
Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim
Brief Summary

Long-term aim is the definition of a setup of mobile sensors and their integration in a mobile infrastructure that allows the prediction of stress related alcohol intake in an ambulatory setting. Here, we aim to identify stress- and alcohol cue-related physiological markers in a lab experiment to assess interactions between acute psychological vs. physical stress exposure and alcohol cue-exposure regarding their effects on measures relevant for the development and maintenance of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Further, we aim to identify neural correlates in brain circuits of motivational, cognitive, and affective processing. In addition to applying established stress-related markers, we will integrate innovative sensor-based measures.

Detailed Description

In patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) stress exposure is known to affect craving, cue-reactivity and relapse risk. Here, we aim to identify stress- and alcohol cue-related physiological markers in a lab experiment to assess interactions between acute psychological vs. physical stress exposure and alcohol cue-exposure regarding their effects on (1) alcohol craving and related markers (attentional bias to alcohol-cues, implicit association task, neural cue-reactivity), (2) their predictive capacity for future alcohol intake, (3) the identification their neural correlates in brain circuits of motivational, cognitive, and affective processing. In addition to applying established stress-related markers (cortisol in saliva, heart-rate variability, systolic blood pressure and electrodermal activity), (4) we will integrate portable sensors (wearables) to allow a future integration in ambulatory assessments and to test innovative measures currently under investigation (e.g. voice stress analysis) to identify whether these additional parameters increase the predictive significance. Our long-term aim is the definition of a setup of mobile sensors and their integration in a mobile infrastructure that allows the prediction of stress related alcohol intake in an ambulatory setting.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
121
Inclusion Criteria
  • Alcohol-use disorder according to 2 DSM-V criteria not requiring detoxification: AUD subjects with mild AUD will fulfill at least 2 and not more than 5 diagnostic criteria; a second group of AUD subjects will fulfill 4-5 criteria for moderate AUD
  • sufficient ability to communicate with the investigators, to answer questions in oral and written form
  • fully informed consent
  • written informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
  • withdrawal of the declaration of consent
  • Pregnancy
  • Using hormonal contraceptives
  • Perimenopausal/ postmenopausal
  • positive urin drug screening (cannabis, amphetamine, opiates, benzodiazepines, cocaine)
  • Lifetime history of DSM-5 bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or schizophrenia spectrum disorder, or substance dependence other than alcohol or nicotine or cannabis dependence.
  • Current threshold DSM-5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder, or presence of suicidal intention
  • History of severe head trauma or other severe central nervous system disorder (e.g., dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis)
  • Current use of medications or drugs known to interact with the CNS within at least four half-lives post last intake

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
ControlBarlab-ExposureParticipants reads newspaper before Barlab-Exposure
ControlReading NewspaperParticipants reads newspaper before Barlab-Exposure
Experimental 1 (Distress)Barlab-ExposureParticipants undergo the Trier Social Stress Test before Barlab-Exposure
Experimental 1 (Distress)Trier Social Stress TestParticipants undergo the Trier Social Stress Test before Barlab-Exposure
Experimental 2 (Eustress)ErgometerParticipants ride an ergometer before Barlab-Exposure
Experimental 2 (Eustress)Barlab-ExposureParticipants ride an ergometer before Barlab-Exposure
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
change in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic)at examination day: 6 time points measured throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); at hours:minutes 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 3:50, 4:50, 5:05 after arrival of the proband

acquired with pressure sleeve

fMRIat examination day: measured directly after the behavioral tasks at the end of the lab experiment

neural alcohol-related cue-reactivity, stop-signal reaction time task, emotion processing and resting state fMRI

change in level of cortisolat examination day: 6 time points measured throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); at hours:minutes 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 3:50, 4:50, 5:05 after arrival of the proband

cortisol measured in saliva as a stress marker

change in voice stress patternat examination day: 6 time points measured throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); at hours:minutes 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 3:50, 4:50, 5:05 after arrival of the proband

audio file of participants' voice for voice stress pattern analysis will be recorded. From this a multivariate measure (i.e. multivariate vector) will be acquired (including frequency, loudness etc.)

change in heart rateat examination day: continuous measurement throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); duration around 2 hours; starting 1 hour 50 minutes after arrival of the proband

heart rate acquired with ear clip (continuous time series)

change in heart rate variabilityat examination day: continuous measurement throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); duration around 2 hour; starting 1 hour 50 minutes after arrival of the proband

heart rate variability acquired with ear clip (continuous time series)

change in electrodermal activityat examination day: continuous measurement throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); duration around 2 hour; starting 1h 50min after arrival of the proband

time series acquired with body sensor

resting state activityat examination day: measured directly after the behavioral tasks at the end of the lab experiment

resting state connectivity measured with fMRI

attentional bias to alcohol cuesat examination day: measured directly after the stress task / newspaper reading; before "implicit alcohol association" and MRI session

measured with reaction time differences (in milliseconds) using the dotprobe-task (Vollstädt-Klein et al. 2009) \[reaction time differences is not a change over time; it is measured during one experimental session\]

change in alcohol cravingat examination day: 6 time points measured throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); at hours:minutes 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 3:50, 4:50, 5:05 after arrival of the proband

self-report "How strong is your craving for alcohol?": reported on a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 to 100

neural alcohol-related cue-reactivityat examination day: measured directly after the behavioral tasks at the end of the lab experiment

% signal change, measured with fMRI; paradigm Vollstädt-Klein et al. 2010; \[% signal change is not a change over time; it is measured during one experimental session\]

neural inhibition processingat examination day: measured directly after the behavioral tasks at the end of the lab experiment

% signal change, measured with fMRI; stop-signal reaction time task (Fauth-Buhler et al. 2012) \[% signal change is not a change over time; it is measured during one experimental session\]

neural emotion processingat examination day: measured directly after the behavioral tasks at the end of the lab experiment

% signal change, measured with fMRI; faces task (Hariri et al. 2002) \[% signal change is not a change over time; it is measured during one experimental session\]

implicit alcohol associationat examination day: measured after the stress task / newspaper reading, directly after the "attentional bias to alcohol cues" ; before MRI session

measured with reaction time differences (in milliseconds) using the implicit association task (Wiers et al. 2016) \[reaction time differences is not a change over time; it is measured during one experimental session\]

change in alcohol urgesat examination day: 6 time points measured throughout the whole experiment (except during MRI scanning); at hours:minutes 2:20, 2:50, 3:20, 3:50, 4:50, 5:05 after arrival of the proband

self-report questionnaire: "Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (AUQ)"; Bohn et al. 1995

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
alcohol consumption12 months follow-up

self-report using the instrument Form90 (Scheurich et al. 2005)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Klinik für Abhängiges Verhalten, Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit

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Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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