Drug Effects on Preference and Reward

NCT01722006 | Completed

• 3 other identifiers: 10-618AR01DA002812HHSN275201100328P
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 103
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Classical conditioning is widely used to study motivational properties of addictive drugs in animals, but has rarely been used in humans. Here, we are establishing a procedure suitable for studying the neurobiology and individual determinants of classical conditioning in humans. Healthy volunteers are randomly assigned to four groups that received methamphetamine or placebo in the presence of distinctive environmental cues under paired or unpaired conditions. During each session, subjects perform tasks known to activate the ventral striatum in fMRI studies. The tasks are performed in the presence of a distinctive context, consisting of a screen background image of a beach or of mountains, accompanied by corresponding sounds. Separate groups of subjects carry out the tasks under high or low reward conditions. Within each of the two reward conditions, one group (paired), receives methamphetamine (20 mg, oral) or placebo consistently associated with one of the contexts, while the other (unpaired) receives drug or placebo unrelated to context. A fifth group (paired) perform the tasks with contextual cues but in the absence of monetary incentives. Before and after conditioning, participants carry out a series of forced choice tasks, and change of preference over time was analyzed.

Conditions

Drug Addiction

Keywords

methamphetamine; subjective; conditioning; preference

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Preference for paired stimulus

  Subjects rate their preference for several pairs of stimuli before and after conditioning pairings. The stimuli are presented on a computer screen in the pre and post preference tests, and the change in preference after the conditioning trials is the primary outcome measure.

  2-3 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Subjective responses to methamphetamine

  2-3 weeks

Study Arms (1)

Pairing group

Paired, high reward, oral methamphetamine (20 mg) vs placebo Paired, low reward, oral methamphetamine (20 mg) vs placebo Paired, no reward, oral methamphetamine (20 mg) vs placebo Unpaired, oral methamphetamine (20 mg) vs placebo

Behavioral: Pairing condition

Interventions

Pairing condition BEHAVIORAL

Pairing group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 35 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

healthy adults

You may qualify if:

• , good healthy, normal weight, high school education, normal electrocardiogram, no psychiatric disorders,

You may not qualify if:

• current medications, night shift work, abnormal electrocardiogram, medical problems

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Chicago: lead
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): collaborator
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, 60637, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Substance-Related Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Chemically-Induced Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Harriet de Wit, PhD

  University of Chicago

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 29, 2012
• First Posted: November 6, 2012
• Study Start: December 1, 2010
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2012
• Study Completion: July 1, 2012
• Last Updated: September 5, 2013

Record last verified: 2012-11

Locations

US (1)