Acute Effects of Estradiol Administration on Brain Function During Fear Learning (EstroFearGen)

July 27, 2026 updated by: University of Arizona

Neuroimaging Study of Fear Learning: Effects of Estrogen

The goal of current study is to better understand how fear is processed in the brain and how these processes are influenced by cognition and hormones. This research will focus specifically on postmenopausal female adults, because age-related changes in cognition and declining estrogen levels may contribute to anxiety symptoms and PTSD risk later in life.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Early Phase 1

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

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
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • post-menopausal
  • normal or corrected-to-normal vision
  • English speaking
  • stable medication use (no changes in the past three months)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • use of hormone therapy containing synthetic estrogen
  • MRI contraindications (e.g., irremovable ferrous metal in body, claustrophobia)
  • history of neurological disorder (including mild cognitive impairment) or moderate to severe traumatic brain injury
  • use of antipsychotic, opiate, or mood stabilizer (i.e., lithium) medication
  • history of blood clots/deep vein thrombosis, prior stroke or TIA, uncontrolled hypertension
  • history of migraine with aura
  • severe liver disease
  • history of breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer
  • smoking >10 cigarettes/day

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: Estradiol
single 2mg dose of estradiol by mouth
Drug: estradiol
oral 2mg tablet of estradiol
Other Names:
  • Estrace

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neural Response to Fear Conditioning Task
Time Frame: single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug
Estrogen has been shown to modulate the function of brain regions involved in fear processing, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. During fMRI, participants will complete a fear conditioning and generalization task to measure brain activity. They will view different neutral images of geometric shapes which may or may not predict the imminent receipt of an electric shock to the ankle. Across voxels of the brain, activation estimates (BOLD response) will be extracted for CS+ (conditioned threat) vs. CS- (conditioned safety) cues, and linear activation patterns across ambiguous generalization stimuli (i.e., GSs; CS+ > GS1 > GS2 > GS3 > CS-).
single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Skin Conductance Response
Time Frame: single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug
Sweat glands activate under stress, increasing the electrical conductance of the skin. Participants will have electrodes attached on their palm to measure changes in sympathetic nervous system activity, providing an objective, physiological measure of anticipatory anxiety.
single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug
Subjective Fear and Risk Ratings
Time Frame: single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug
Self-report can be used to ascertain subjective fear and explicit knowledge of threat contingencies. Participants will be asked to rate of perceived risk of each displayed stimulus from 1 (no risk) to 3 (high risk), contingency learning, and aversiveness of the stimulation (1-5) during task completion in the scanner and after.
single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Arizona

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ashley Huggins, University of Arizona

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 (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 27, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 27, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00008306

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

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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.

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