Impact of Stress on Brain Energy Metabolism

December 16, 2025 updated by: Rupert Lanzenberger

Impact of Acute Stress and Its Habituation on Brain Energy Metabolism

Background: Stress plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of mental disorders. However, individual differences in the vulnerability to acute and repeated stress are not well understood.

Aim: This work aims to investigate individual differences in glucose metabolism and directional connectivity regulating the neuronal stress response.

Design: 68 healthy volunteers will undergo two simultaneous PET/MRI measurements one week apart. Participants will complete the Montreal Imaging Stress Test during each measurement and in-between. Effects of stress on cognitive performance will be assessed using the n-back working memory task. Individual cortisol levels will be acquired to identify stress (non)responders as well as (non)habituators.

Implications: This work will characterize differences between stress responders vs. non-responders and stress habituators vs. non-habituators in terms of energy metabolism and network connectivity. This individual difference in the stress response may represent an important cornerstone for future evaluation of patients with mental disorders.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Methodological details: Each participant will undergo two PET/MRI scans. Imaging will include functional PET and as well as structural and functional MRI. Stress-specific glucose metabolism will be quantified with the radioligand [18F]FDG. Functional connectivity will be combined with glucose metabolism to assess directional connectivity. Based on previous literature, changes are expected to occur in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

68

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Austria
      • Vienna, Austria
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Andreas Hahn, Assoc Prof

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-40 years
  • right-handedness
  • willingness and competence to sign the informed consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of or current physical, neurological or psychiatric disorder
  • History of or current substance abuse or medication, including antipsychotic, antidepressant and antianxiety agents
  • Pregnancy of current breast-feeding
  • Contraindications for MRI-scanning (e.g., metal implants, steel grafts, etc.), including dental implants causing signal artifacts
  • For subjects participating in earlier studies using ionizing radiation, the total radiation exposure of 30 mSv over the last 10 years must not be exceeded, as specified in the Austrian legislation on radiation protection Accordingly, body weight > 105 kg is an exclusion criterion.
  • Failure to comply with the study protocol or to follow the instructions of the investigating team.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Stress
Montreal Imaging Stress Test during each PET/MRI measurement and in-between
Behavioral: Montreal Imaging Stress Test
In the Montreal Imaging Stress Test, participants are required to solve basic mathematical tasks, but the allowed reaction time is set lower than their average.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stress induced changes in glucose metabolism
Time Frame: 1 week
Glucose metabolism will be quantified from [18F]FDG PET imaging.
1 week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stress induced changes in directional connectivity
Time Frame: 1 week
Directional connectivity will be computed as combination of MRI-based functional connectivity and glucose metabolism.
1 week
Stress induced changes in cognitive performance
Time Frame: 1 week
Cognitive performance will be obtained by the n-back working memory task.
1 week

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Rupert Lanzenberger

Collaborators

University of Konstanz

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Andreas Hahn, Assoc.Prof., Department of Psychiatry and Psychtherapy, Medical University of Vienna

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 29, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 29, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 29, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

February 6, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 23, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 16, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PSY-NIL-0012

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Anonymized data will be deposited on datadryad.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After study completion.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Public access.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Stress

Clinical Trials on Montreal Imaging Stress Test

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Estonia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe