Does Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation Improves Fear Extinction in Humans (t-VNSext)
A recent study with rats showed that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) facilitates extinction of fear (Pena, Engineer, & McIntyre, Biological Psychiatry, 2013). The hypothesized mechanism is that VNS both enhances memory consolidation (by increasing noradrenergic neurotransmission) and reduces anxiety (thus: preventing fear responses to the CS which may re-consolidate the fear memory). The effect was only apparent when VNS occurred during exposure of the fear conditioned stimulus (CS), and not when stimulation was given immediately following exposure. These results may have implications for the treatment of anxiety disorders in humans. However, until recently, the only means to investigate the effects of VNS on human fear learning would have required the invasive implantation of vagus nerve stimulators. This has fortunately changed, as a non-invasive transcutaneous VNS device has been approved for use in the E.U. for the treatment of psychological disorders.
This study proposes to use a t-VNS to investigate its effects on fear learning and extinction in (healthy) humans. Previous research has only investigated the effects it has on human mood and memory. The results obtained suggest that it reduces negative affect and enhances memory, findings which are consistent with those reported for rats. It is thus reasonable to expect that t-VNS will facilitate the extinction of fear in humans.
The present study aims to answer the following research questions:
Does t-VNS during extinction training:
- accelerates extinction curves
- reduces spontaneous recovery of previously extinguished fear
- reduce re-acquisition of fear
- reduce generalization of fear to other stimuli that resemble the CS+?
- facilitates the generalization of inhibitory learning to stimuli that resemble the CS-?
調査の概要
研究の種類
入学 (予想される)
段階
- 適用できない
連絡先と場所
研究場所
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Leuven、ベルギー、3000
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science
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参加基準
適格基準
就学可能な年齢
健康ボランティアの受け入れ
受講資格のある性別
説明
Inclusion Criteria:
- healthy men and women aged 16 - 50 years
Exclusion Criteria:
- current or past psychiatric or neurological disorder
- use of psychopharmaca
- use of medication that affects autonomic nervous functioning (e.g., bèta-blockers)
- current cardiac or respiratory disorder
- pregnancy
研究計画
研究はどのように設計されていますか?
デザインの詳細
- 主な目的:基礎科学
- 割り当て:ランダム化
- 介入モデル:並列代入
- マスキング:独身
武器と介入
参加者グループ / アーム |
介入・治療 |
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実験的:t-VNS
electrical stimulation of the concha of the ear 30sec trains of 0.25msec-duration monophasic square wave pulses at 25Hz, with a stimulation intensity not exceeding 0.5 mA |
The device that will be used is approved for systematic use by those with epilepsy and depression in the European Union.
It has been used in studies of acute stimulation with healthy participants with no significant changes in heart rate or breathing (Kraus et al., 2007; Busch et al., 2013).
他の名前:
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偽コンパレータ:sham t-VNS
Sham stimulation of the earlobe will be conducted by positioning the electrode upside down 30sec trains of 0.25msec-duration monophasic square wave pulses at 25Hz, with a stimulation intensity not exceeding 0.5 mA |
electrodes will be put upside down
他の名前:
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この研究は何を測定していますか?
主要な結果の測定
結果測定 |
メジャーの説明 |
時間枠 |
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fear response
時間枠:3 test days
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startle blink EMG skin conductance response ECG respiration self-reports
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3 test days
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協力者と研究者
研究記録日
主要日程の研究
研究開始
一次修了 (予想される)
試験登録日
最初に提出
QC基準を満たした最初の提出物
最初の投稿 (見積もり)
学習記録の更新
投稿された最後の更新 (見積もり)
QC基準を満たした最後の更新が送信されました
最終確認日
詳しくは
本研究に関する用語
その他の研究ID番号
- t-VNS extinction
この情報は、Web サイト clinicaltrials.gov から変更なしで直接取得したものです。研究の詳細を変更、削除、または更新するリクエストがある場合は、register@clinicaltrials.gov。 までご連絡ください。 clinicaltrials.gov に変更が加えられるとすぐに、ウェブサイトでも自動的に更新されます。
t-VNSの臨床試験
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Tallaght University Hospital募集
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cerbomed GmbHInstitut fuer anwendungsorientierte Forschung und klinische Studien GmbH完了
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Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare完了
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The University of Texas Health Science Center,...MicroTransponder Inc.募集
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University of LouisvilleNational Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)募集