Stress & Self-Control Costs

NCT05795179 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 22-01630
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Self-control failures are a universal challenge for healthy and clinical populations. Recent work suggests these failures may arise from excessive cognitive costs associated with exercising self-control, yet the mechanisms underlying these costs are unknown. To address this, the investigators will use a validated decision-making task that measures how much individuals will pay (from a study endowment) to restrict access to tempting rewards that may lead to self-control failures. The investigators will examine these costs to identify their cognitive, neural and affective mechanisms. First, the investigators will identify the cognitive and computational mechanism that gives rise to self-control costs. Second, the investigators will characterize the neural correlates of self-control costs and identify neural mediators and connectivity patterns stemming from these costs. Finally, the investigators will examine how different classes of stressors (physical, social, or lifetime stress) shape the behavioral and neural representations of self-control costs.

Conditions

Self-Control

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Average Self-Control Cost

  The self-control cost is the amount that a participant would be willing to pay to avoid temptation. This will be tested in a self-control task in which participants are shown an images of snack food and report how much they would be willing to avoid the different food items.

  Day 1

• Change in fMRI BOLD Signal During Self-Control Decisions

  Functional MRI (fMRI) data will be analyzed to measure changes in blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC), Frontopolar Cortex (FPC) and Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) regions of interest as participants make self-control cost decisions during the self-control activity.

  Day 1 (Up to 1.5 Hours)

Study Arms (4)

Physiological Stress

EXPERIMENTAL

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to a physiological stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the physiological stress group, this task is the Cold-Pressor Task (CPT), a physiological stress task in which participants continuously submerge their hand and forearm in ice-water (0-4°C) for 3 minutes. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Behavioral: Cold-Pressor Task (CPT); Device: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Social Stress

EXPERIMENTAL

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the social stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the social stress group, this task is the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a psychosocial stressor that requires participants perform a short speech and solve math problems in front of 2 evaluative judges. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Behavioral: Trier Social Stress Test (TSST); Device: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Physiological Non-Stress

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the physiological non-stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the physiological non-stress group, participants will continuously submerge their hand and forearm in warm water for 3 minutes. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Behavioral: Modified Non-Stress CPT; Device: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Social Non-Stress

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the social stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the social non-stress group, participants will be asked to prepare for a speech that they will practice alone to themselves and complete math problems alone on a piece of scrap paper. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Behavioral: Modified Non-Stress TSST; Device: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Interventions

Cold-Pressor Task (CPT) BEHAVIORAL

CPT is a physiological stress task in which participants continuously submerge their hand and forearm in ice-water (0-4°C) for 3 minutes.

Physiological Stress

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) BEHAVIORAL

The TSST is a psychosocial stressor that requires participants perform a short speech and solve math problems in front of 2 evaluative judges.

Social Stress

Modified Non-Stress CPT BEHAVIORAL

The modified non-stress CPT involves participants continuously submerging their hand and forearm in warm water for 3 minutes.

Physiological Non-Stress

Modified Non-Stress TSST BEHAVIORAL

For the modified non-stress TSST, participants are asked to prepare for a speech that they will practice alone to themselves and complete math problems alone on a piece of scrap paper.

Social Non-Stress

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) DEVICE

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Physiological Non-Stress; Physiological Stress; Social Non-Stress; Social Stress

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years of age, able to speak, read, and write fluently in English
• be willing and able to follow study procedures and provide informed consent.
• Must additionally confirm they are on a diet to maintain/lose weight and are implementing/maintaining dietary changes.

You may not qualify if:

• History of or medication for neurologic or psychiatric disease
• High-blood pressure or heart condition
• Diabetes, food allergies, metabolic disorders or history of eating disorder
• Use of corticosteroids or beta-blockers
• Metallic implants or devices contraindicating magnetic resonance imaging.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• NYU Langone Health: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

NYU Langone Health

New York, New York, 10016, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Self-Control

Interventions

Psychological Tests; Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Disciplines and Activities; Tomography; Diagnostic Imaging; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis

Study Officials

• Candace Raio

  NYU Langone Health

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Candace Raio

CONTACT

candace.raio@nyulangone.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 21, 2023
• First Posted: April 3, 2023
• Study Start: October 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2028
• Last Updated: March 11, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP
• Time Frame: Beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication or as required by a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.
• Access Criteria: The investigator who proposed to use the data will be granted access upon reasonable request. Requests should be directed to candace.raio@nyulangone.org. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.

Locations

US (1)