Assessing Visual Processing in High Anxiety

NCT04187326 | Completed Results DMC

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY190102891K01MH117290-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 23
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

High trait anxiety, a stable personality trait, is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty differentiating safety from threat, including visual information like emotional faces. This study aims to characterize visual system function in high trait anxiety. A portion of this study involves an intervention. For the intervention portion, a subset of participants will be asked to return for a lab visit upon completing the first portion of the study (multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan). During this follow up visit, participants will complete a computer task that involves looking at faces and identifying emotions. Participants will complete this task either six months or twelve months after their MRI scan visit. Results from this research have the potential to inform novel therapies that target the visual system in individuals at risk for the development of psychiatric disorders.

Conditions

Anxiety

Keywords

visual processing

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Tolerability of the Micro Expression Training Task in Individuals With High Anxiety

  Rates of completion of the behavioral task

  six or twelve months post-scan visit

Study Arms (2)

6 Month Micro Expression Training Task

EXPERIMENTAL

The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test.

Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training

12 Month Micro Expression Training Task

EXPERIMENTAL

The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. Participants in this group will complete this task twelve month after their first visit.

Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training

Interventions

Facial Microexpression Training BEHAVIORAL

The METT is a well-validated task designed to improve perception of subtle changes in facial expressions, termed microexpressions. Participants with high trait anxiety will return to the lab approximately six months post scan visit to complete this computer-based task. They will receive feedback during the task on their accuracy.

12 Month Micro Expression Training Task; 6 Month Micro Expression Training Task

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Young adults varying continuously in trait anxiety as assessed by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
• HTA participants with STAI trait scores of ≥44

You may not qualify if:

• contraindication to MRI
• history of head trauma or loss of consciousness
• major medical or neurological illness
• current psychiatric medication usage or use in the last three months
• alcohol/substance abuse or dependence and/or illicit substance use (excepting cannabis) in the last three months

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Massachusetts, Worcester: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine

Worcester, Massachusetts, 01655, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Elliot Edmiston, Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
• Organization: UMass Chan School of Medicine

kale.edmiston@umassmed.edu

5088566480

Study Officials

• Elliot K Edmiston, PhD

  Associate Professor

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: The study team will use a waitlist-control design. A subset of participants will return to complete visual training using the Micro Expression Training Tool (METT). Half of these participants will complete the task at their first follow up visit (approximately six months post scan), and half will complete the task at their second follow up visit (approximately twelve months post scan). The METT presents videos of micro expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. We will collect performance accuracy data. This behavioral task will provide preliminary feasibility data for the development of interventions with visual system targets by helping the investigators determine if the METT is tolerable in individuals with high trait anxiety.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 3, 2019
• First Posted: December 5, 2019
• Study Start: March 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: March 15, 2024
• Study Completion: March 15, 2024
• Last Updated: September 4, 2025
• Results First Posted: September 4, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)