The primary goal of the present study is to test whether neural activity in brain regions associated with processing threat and social stimuli may underlie paranoid thinking.
Paranoia is a prominent symptom of psychosis that occurs in several other diagnoses, as well as the general population, and that is associated with significant distress and impairment. Previous research suggests that increased baseline activity of the amygdala and related neural circuits may serve as a mechanism for paranoid ideation. This exploratory study will use a paranoia induction procedure in healthy individuals who vary in pre-existing levels of paranoid ideation to test whether increases in self-reported paranoia are accompanied by increases in resting cerebral blood flow (CBF), decreased stimulus-driven neural activity in social processing networks, and increased behavioral perceptions of untrustworthiness. Participants will be randomly assigned to participate in a paranoia induction procedure or a control condition and will then complete neuroimaging and behavioral assessments.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
70
Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia
Advanced Research Imaging Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Dallas, Texas, United States
Resting cerebral blood flow (CBF)
CBF in amygdala and related neural circuits
Time frame: CBF measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 9 minutes.
Amount of Neural Activity
Task-related activation of amygdala and related neural circuits measured with blood-oxygenation-level-dependent imaging
Time frame: Measurements will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 25 minutes.
Ratings of Trustworthiness
Behavioral perceptions of the trustworthiness of others
Time frame: Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 12 minutes.
Self-reported paranoid ideation
Time frame: Data will be obtained during the study visit and will last approximately 5 minutes.
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