Functional Neuroimaging of Alcoholism Vulnerability (PIT) (CTNA)

Functional Neuroimaging of Alcoholism Vulnerability: Glutamate, Reward, Impulsivity and Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT)

This project compares Family History Positive (FHP) for alcoholism subjects to matched Family History Negative (FHN) subjects derived from the project Principal Investigator's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism-funded longitudinal study of drinking behavior in a 2000 college freshman population (known as the Brain and Alcohol Research in College Students study (BARCS)). The age of these subjects is a valuable one at which to capture the transition from harmful use to abuse/dependence. This project explores the effects of memantine in a double-blind, randomized, counterbalanced manner on alcoholism risk-relevant tasks. More specifically, this project studies functional MRI tasks related to different aspects of reward and/or impulsivity-related behavior in different contexts, compares the underlying neural circuitry across tasks, and uses a pharmacologic probe of the glutamatergic system to examine NMDA/DA interactions. The combined measures provide the opportunity to advance our understanding of specific aspects of brain function related to familial alcoholism vulnerability in an already well-characterized population as some members evolve into alcohol abuse. In addition to conventional within-task analyses, functional network connectivity and allied approaches will be used to examine brain networks across tasks.

The investigators will study adult male and female subjects in equal numbers who are either offspring of an alcoholic parent or are FHN matched controls. The investigators will recruit and assess a total of 84 (42 FHP and 42 matched FHN) subjects between the ages of 18-21 years on initial BARCS contact. The investigators will use 4 cognitive tasks during the functional MRI (fMRI) which include: 1) a Monetary Incentive Delay Task that distinguishes networks engaged in motivational (anticipation) and consummatory (outcome) components of reward processing; 2) a Go/No-Go Task that measures the ability to inhibit response to a pre-potent stimulus; 3) an Alcohol Cue Reactivity Task that examines Nucleus Accumbens response to alcohol-related versus matched soft drink stimuli; and 4) a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer (PIT) Task that dissects a component of the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) Task, and provides an imaging assay of a transfer-like process that can be related to real-world drinking behavior, thus informing upon and extending the key findings from CTNA-2.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Memantine; Drug: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 71
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • Hartford, Connecticut, United States, 06106
      • Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center at the Institute of Living, Hartford Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Biological father with a history of Alcoholism
• A least 1 other first- or second-degree relative with a history of Alcoholism.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cannot be an only child
• A diagnosis of DSM-IV-TR Axis I psychotic disorders screened with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), done in the BARCS study (with the exception of Alcohol Abuse)
• Report of psychotic disorder in a 1º relative
• Prenatal exposure to alcohol (mother reported to drink 3 or more drinks on an occasion or more than 3 times per month during pregnancy
• Not speaking English fluently or being a non-native English speaker, or being educated in a primary language other than English >grade 1
• Mental retardation (Full Scale IQ<70)
• Traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness > 30 minutes or concussion in last 30 days
• Presence or history of any medical/neurologic illness that may affect brain physiology (e.g., epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis), including focal brain lesion seen on structural MRI (all structural scans are read by a licensed radiologist)
• Current pregnancy (all females will be tested with urine screens on the day of MRI)
• Any positive alcohol screen will result in exclusion
• Inability to comprehend the consent form appropriately
• Other specific fMRI exclusions include metal devices, clips or fragments in body (orbital x-ray performed if needed)
• Female participants under 125 pounds will be excluded from participating due to the strength and side effects in this segment of the population.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: DOUBLE

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Family history positive, Memantine first, then placebo; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.	Drug: Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.; Drug: Placebo; Identically appearing sugar pill, given orally
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Family history positive, placebo first, then Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.	Drug: Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.; Drug: Placebo; Identically appearing sugar pill, given orally
EXPERIMENTAL: Family history negative, Memantine first, then placebo; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.	Drug: Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.; Drug: Placebo; Identically appearing sugar pill, given orally
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Family history negative, placebo first, then Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.	Drug: Memantine; Memantine is a low-side-effect NMDA receptor antagonist usually administered therapeutically to elderly persons with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease in typical doses of 10-20 mg daily. In this study, single doses of 40 mg are administered.; Drug: Placebo; Identically appearing sugar pill, given orally

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) Activation in the Amygdala During "Win" Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) Task Between Placebo and Study Medication	All participants completed the fMRI Monetary Incentive Delay task on each study day. During the task, participants needed to select the correct response during "win" and "lose" conditions by pressing a button on a button box in the MRI. Participant's BOLD activation response (A measurement of oxygen level that is released to neurons since areas of the brain that are thought to be more "active" or involved in certain tasks require more oxygen to perform the tasks.) was measured while they performed the task in MRI scanner.	4 hours post intervention on each study day, separated by 1 week to 1 month
Change in Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) Activation in Anterior Cingulate Cortex During "Loss" Condition of Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) Task Between Placebo and Study Medication	All participants completed the fMRI Monetary Incentive Delay task on each study day. During the task, participants needed to select the correct response during "win" and "lose" conditions by pressing a button on a button box in the MRI. Participant's BOLD activation response (A measurement of oxygen level that is released to neurons since areas of the brain that are thought to be more "active" or involved in certain tasks require more oxygen to perform the tasks.) was measured while they performed the task in MRI scanner.	4 hours post intervention on each study day, separated by 1 week to 1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Impulsive Behavior as Measured on the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) Computerized Task Between Placebo and Study Medication	All participants completed the BART task approximately 3 hours post drug administration on both study visits. Study days were approximately 1 week to 1 month a part. BART is a computer decision-making task that measures risk taking. Participants are presented with a series of "balloons." The object is to earn as much money as possible by pumping the balloon without popping it. The point of explosion varies from trial to trial and costs participants the money they have earned in that trial.	3 hours post intervention on each study day, separated by 1 week to 1 month
Change in Impulsive Behavior as Measured on the Experimental Discounting Delay (EDT) Computerized Task Between Placebo and Study Medication	All participants completed the EDT task approximately 3 hours post drug administration on both study visits. Study days were approximately 1 week to 1 month a part. EDT is a delay-discounting task that exposes participants to choice consequences during test administration. The EDT involves multiple blocks of choices, one for each delay. Choices are made between a standard amount that is delivered immediately and is certain and a probable amount that is delayed and uncertain.	3 hours post intervention on each study day, separated by 1 week to 1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 23, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 24, 2012
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): April 25, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): March 16, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 25, 2021
• Last Verified: February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Impulsivity; Reward Circuitry; Family History of Alcoholism; NMDA/DA Interactions
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Alcoholism; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; Excitatory Amino Acid Agents; Dopamine Agents; Antiparkinson Agents; Anti-Dyskinesia Agents; Memantine
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1106008650

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No