Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli

Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli: Investigating a Neurobehavioral Mechanism of Paranoia

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy Adults
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Paranoia Induction

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 Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 70
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75390
      • Advanced Research Imaging Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 55 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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 Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: SINGLE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Paranoia Induction; Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia	Behavioral: Paranoia Induction; Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia
NO_INTERVENTION: Control Condition; No manipulation of paranoid ideation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

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

Secondary Outcome Measures

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

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): June 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): April 1, 2019
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): April 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 11, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 15, 2017
• First Posted (ACTUAL): December 21, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): April 28, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 26, 2021
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-44

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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