Determining the Role of Social Reward Learning in Social Anhedonia (SAMI)

Determining the Role of Social Reward Learning in Social Anhedonia in First-Episode Psychosis Using Motivational Interviewing in a Perturbation-Based Neuroimaging Approach

This is a clinical trial study that aims to evaluate the specificity of the relationship between reduced sensitivity to social reward and social anhedonia at both behavioral and neural levels. Individuals who recently experienced their first-episode psychosis will be recruited. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to motivational interviewing or a time- and format-matched control probe. At pre- and post-probe, participants will perform two social reward learning tasks in the scanner. With this design feature, we will examine the relationship between sensitivity to social reward and reduced subjective experience of social pleasure at both the behavioral and neural levels.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Psychosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: Nutrition Didactic Training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 152
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Junghee Lee, PhD; Phone Number: 205-934-8205; Email: jungheelee@uabmc.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Andrew Meddaugh, BA; Phone Number: 205-934-8203; Email: ajmeddaugh@uabmc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
      • Recruiting
      • University of Alabama at Birmingham
      • Contact: Junghee Lee, PhD; Phone Number: 205-934-8205; Email: jungheelee@uabmc.edu
      • Contact: Andrew Meddaugh, BA; Phone Number: 205-934-8203; Email: ajmeddaugh@uabmc.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Junghee Lee, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Adrienne C Lahti, MD
      • Sub-Investigator: Alison Thomas, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Caitlin W Clevenger, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Gerhard S Hellemann, PhD
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
      • Recruiting
      • University of California Los Angeles
      • Contact: Rebecca Zornitsky, MS; Phone Number: 424-225-1779; Email: zornitsky@mednet.ucla.edu
      • Contact: Joseph Ventura, PhD; Phone Number: 310-206-3142; Email: jventura@mednet.ucla.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Keith H Nuechterlein, PhD
      • Principal Investigator: Michael F Green, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Joseph Ventura, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Kenneth Subotnik, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Amy M Jimenez, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Lena M Reddy, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18-35 years
• A first episode of a psychotic illness that began within the past three years
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder
• Taking 2nd generation antipsychotic medications
• Estimated premorbid IQ not less than 70 as assessed with the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading
• Appropriate for scanning (i.e., no pacemaker or metal implants) and expressed willingness to participate in scanning
• Sufficient fluency in English to comprehend testing procedures
• Corrected vision of at least 20/30

Exclusion Criteria:

• No evidence that substance use makes the diagnosis ambiguous (rule out substance-induced psychosis)
• No evidence of moderate or severe alcohol or substance use disorder in the past 3 months
• No clinically significant disease based on medical history (e.g., epilepsy) or significant head injury
• For females: no current pregnancy
• No sedatives or anxiolytics on the day of assessment
• No medication change 3 weeks prior to enrollment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Motivational Interview Intervention; This arm involves three 45-minute sessions on motivational interviewing targeting sensitivity to social reward.	Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Three motivational interviewing sessions will target sensitivity to social reward, including subjective evaluation of social interaction, socially rewarding stimuli, and events (e.g., interactions with others, feedback from others).
Active Comparator: Active Control Intervention; This arm involves three 45-minute sessions on didactic training on nutrition.	Behavioral: Nutrition Didactic Training; The Nutrition didactic training will ask participants to discuss pros and cons of healthy eating habits and how to improve their current eating habits.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Response Bias	Response bias is defined as the likelihood of making one response, such as the frequently rewarded stimulus, more than the other response during the perceptual social reward learning task	3 weeks
the number of optimal response	The number of optimal response is defined as the number of responses choosing a stimuli with optimal outcomes (e.g., choosing a good over a neutral machine or choosing a neutral over a bad machine) during the inductive social reward learning task.	3 weeks
fMRI activation levels	fMRI activation is defined as beta weights from general linear model from key regions of interests including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and ventral striatum during the perceptual social reward learning task and the inductive social reward learning task.	3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); University of California, Los Angeles

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 14, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 31, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 7, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): November 16, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 24, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 21, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: social anhedonia, social reward learning, fMRI, sensitivity to reward
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders; Anhedonia
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-300009711; 1R01MH129351-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No