Determining the Role of Social Reward Learning in Social Anhedonia

NCT05617898 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: IRB-3000097111R01MH129351-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 152
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This is a clinical trial study that aims to evaluate the specificity of the relationship between reduced sensitivity to social reward and social anhedonia at both behavioral and neural levels. Individuals who recently experienced their first-episode psychosis will be recruited. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to motivational interviewing or a time- and format-matched control probe. At pre- and post-probe, participants will perform two social reward learning tasks in the scanner. With this design feature, we will examine the relationship between sensitivity to social reward and reduced subjective experience of social pleasure at both the behavioral and neural levels.

Conditions

Psychosis

Keywords

social anhedonia, social reward learning, fMRI, sensitivity to reward

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Response Bias

  Response bias is defined as the likelihood of making one response, such as the frequently rewarded stimulus, more than the other response during the perceptual social reward learning task

  3 weeks

• the number of optimal response

  The number of optimal response is defined as the number of responses choosing a stimuli with optimal outcomes (e.g., choosing a good over a neutral machine or choosing a neutral over a bad machine) during the inductive social reward learning task.

  3 weeks

• fMRI activation levels

  fMRI activation is defined as beta weights from general linear model from key regions of interests including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and ventral striatum during the perceptual social reward learning task and the inductive social reward learning task.

  3 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Motivational Interview Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm involves three 45-minute sessions on motivational interviewing targeting sensitivity to social reward.

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing

Active Control Intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

This arm involves three 45-minute sessions on didactic training on nutrition.

Behavioral: Nutrition Didactic Training

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing BEHAVIORAL

Three motivational interviewing sessions will target sensitivity to social reward, including subjective evaluation of social interaction, socially rewarding stimuli, and events (e.g., interactions with others, feedback from others).

Motivational Interview Intervention

Nutrition Didactic Training BEHAVIORAL

The Nutrition didactic training will ask participants to discuss pros and cons of healthy eating habits and how to improve their current eating habits.

Active Control Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 35 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-35 years
• A first episode of a psychotic illness that began within the past three years
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder
• Taking 2nd generation antipsychotic medications
• Estimated premorbid IQ not less than 70 as assessed with the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading
• Appropriate for scanning (i.e., no pacemaker or metal implants) and expressed willingness to participate in scanning
• Sufficient fluency in English to comprehend testing procedures
• Corrected vision of at least 20/30

You may not qualify if:

• No evidence that substance use makes the diagnosis ambiguous (rule out substance-induced psychosis)
• No evidence of moderate or severe alcohol or substance use disorder in the past 3 months
• No clinically significant disease based on medical history (e.g., epilepsy) or significant head injury
• For females: no current pregnancy
• No sedatives or anxiolytics on the day of assessment
• No medication change 3 weeks prior to enrollment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alabama at Birmingham: lead
• University of California, Los Angeles: collaborator
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (2)

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States

RECRUITING

University of California Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, 90095, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychotic Disorders; Anhedonia

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Directive Counseling; Counseling; Mental Health Services; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Central Study Contacts

Junghee Lee, PhD

CONTACT

205-934-8205; jungheelee@uabmc.edu

Andrew Meddaugh, BA

CONTACT

205-934-8203; ajmeddaugh@uabmc.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 31, 2022
• First Posted: November 16, 2022
• Study Start: June 14, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027
• Last Updated: July 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Locations

US (2)