Assessing Visual Processing in High Anxiety (ALPHA)

Feed Forward Visual System Function In High Trait Anxiety

High trait anxiety, a stable personality trait, is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty differentiating safety from threat, including visual information like emotional faces. This study aims to characterize visual system function in high trait anxiety. A portion of this study involves an intervention. For the intervention portion, a subset of participants will be asked to return for a lab visit upon completing the first portion of the study (multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan). During this follow up visit, participants will complete a computer task that involves looking at faces and identifying emotions. Participants will complete this task either six months or twelve months after their MRI scan visit. Results from this research have the potential to inform novel therapies that target the visual system in individuals at risk for the development of psychiatric disorders.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to understand how people with anxious personalities process emotional facial expressions. The intervention portion of this study is part of a larger study. The first portion of this study consists of a screening visit with questionnaires, and a second visit with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and short computer tasks.

For the intervention portion of this study, a subset of participants will return to the lab for an in-person visit either six or twelve months after their MRI scan. This visit will last approximately two hours. Participants will be asked to complete a computer task where they will be asked to identify emotional face expressions and receive feedback on their performance. They will also complete questionnaires about their mood and emotions.

The primary purpose of this research is to gather scientific information about how people with anxiety process social and emotional information.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 23
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, 01655
      • University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Young adults varying continuously in trait anxiety as assessed by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
• HTA participants with STAI trait scores of ≥44

Exclusion Criteria:

• contraindication to MRI
• history of head trauma or loss of consciousness
• major medical or neurological illness
• current psychiatric medication usage or use in the last three months
• alcohol/substance abuse or dependence and/or illicit substance use (excepting cannabis) in the last three months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 6 Month Micro Expression Training Task; The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test.	Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training; The METT is a well-validated task designed to improve perception of subtle changes in facial expressions, termed microexpressions. Participants with high trait anxiety will return to the lab approximately six months post scan visit to complete this computer-based task. They will receive feedback during the task on their accuracy.
Experimental: 12 Month Micro Expression Training Task; The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. Participants in this group will complete this task twelve month after their first visit.	Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training; The METT is a well-validated task designed to improve perception of subtle changes in facial expressions, termed microexpressions. Participants with high trait anxiety will return to the lab approximately six months post scan visit to complete this computer-based task. They will receive feedback during the task on their accuracy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Tolerability of the Micro Expression Training Task in Individuals With High Anxiety	Rates of completion of the behavioral task	six or twelve months post-scan visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Worcester
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Elliot K Edmiston, PhD, Associate Professor

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 15, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): March 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 3, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 3, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 5, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 15, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: visual processing
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY19010289; 1K01MH117290-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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