Serotonergic System and Violent Video Games

NCT01644071 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CTC-A_12-023
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 47
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Aggressive behavior (AB) is a major burden to society with severe socio-economic consequences. Genetic studies suggest a high heritability of AB; in particular, the low expressing allele of the MAOA gene (MAOA-L) has been associated with increased AB. Recent neural aggression models have suggested a dysfunctional emotion regulation circuit including amygdala, orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortex. Dysregulated serotonergic (5-HT) projections from the anterior cingulate cortex to the amygdala have been suggested to promote aggressive behavior. This finding is well in line with the observation that the MAOA-L allele leads to a reduced expression of monoamine oxidase A and thus to an overflow of 5-HT in serotonergic cortico-amygdalar projections. However, due to methodological and ethical constraints, the neural substrates of AB are difficult to assess. A possible solution is the use of virtual violence which permits AB against virtual characters without direct consequences for any real person and can be easily applied in functional imaging experiments. There is evidence that virtual and real aggression share common neural substrates. AB in violent video games inhibits rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala in line with the suggested neurophysiological circuits underlying real-life AB.

Conditions

Healthy Volunteers

Keywords

violent video games; serotonergic system

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• functional neuroimaging

  1 day

Study Arms (1)

arm 1

EXPERIMENTAL

application of three treatments and three masurements within 3 weeks

Drug: cipralex

Interventions

cipralex DRUG

one time 10 mg, tablet

arm 1

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 60 Years
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• male
• age 18-60 (adults), age 12-17 (juveniles)
• right-handedness
• German native language

You may not qualify if:

• any contraindications against MR investigations
• any contraindications against application of SSRIs
• any history of neurological or psychiatric illness
• history of drug abuse
• history of psychopharmacological therapy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• RWTH Aachen University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Aachen

Aachen, 52074, Germany

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Dexetimide

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Piperidones; Piperidines; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 20, 2012
• First Posted: July 18, 2012
• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2014
• Study Completion: June 1, 2014
• Last Updated: September 29, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-09

Locations

DE (1)