Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli

The University of Texas at Dallas70 enrolled

Overview

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

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Interventions

Paranoia InductionBEHAVIORAL

Behavioral procedure involving social exclusion and negative feedback to induce paranoia

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 55 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * between the ages of 18 and 55 Exclusion Criteria: * current psychiatric diagnosis * current use of psychotropic medications * history of head trauma with loss of consciousness for more than 15 minutes * presence of neurological or neurodegenerative disorder * sensory impairments that preclude assessment * presence of intellectual disability * contraindications for MRI (e.g., metallic implants or pregnancy)

Locations (1)

Advanced Research Imaging Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

Dallas, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

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.

Secondary Outcomes

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.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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