The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of orally administered Losartan on bottom-up and top-down attentional control to socio-emotional stimuli by combining a validated saccade/antisaccade eye-tracking paradigm with a randomized between-subject placebo-controlled pharmacological trial design.
Animal models and initial findings in humans suggest that the angiotensin II antagonist Losartan may have neuroprotective effects and could potentially enhance cognitive functions, including valence-specific attention and regulatory control. Within this context the present study aims to examine whether angiotensin II blockade via Losartan modulates top-down and bottom-up attentional control towards socio-affective stimuli. To this end, healthy individuals will undergo a double-blind, between-subjects, placebo-controlled pharmaco-eye-tracking experiment and receive a single oral dose of Losartan (50 mg) or placebo before performing a saccade/anti-saccade task 90 minutes after administration. The task paradigm will encompass social (happy, angry, fearful, sad and neutral faces) and non-social (oval) stimuli to examine general as well as social and emotion-specific effects of oral losartan.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
80
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
RECRUITINGSaccade/antisaccade latency difference between social and non-social stimuli after losartan administration
Comparison between social-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the losartan and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 90 minutes - 120 minutes after treatment
Error rate of saccade/antisaccade for social versus non-social stimuli after losartan administration
Comparison between social-specific error rates of saccade/antisaccade between the losartan and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 90 minutes - 120minutes after treatment
Saccade/antisaccade latency for different facial emotions after losartan administration
Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade latencies (in milliseconds) between the losartan and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 90 minutes - 120 minutes after treatment
Error rate of saccade/antisaccade for different facial emotions after losartan administration
Comparison between emotion-specific saccade/antisaccade error rates between the losartan and placebo treatment conditions.
Time frame: 90 minutes - 120 minutes after treatment
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