Expectation Effects on Emotional Processing in Late Life

NCT06251284 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: PV7141
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 52
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Understanding the mechanisms of expectation effects in the affective system is vital, given high placebo rates in antidepressants. Evidence has consistently confirmed that expectations can influence our emotional experience. Recently, a crucial role of prefrontal top-down regulation and cognitive capacity was shown in verbally instructed expectation effects within the affective system. Empirical findings systematically point to a positivity effect in emotionally healthy aging, linked to prefrontal functioning. It is unclear whether the effects and mechanisms of positive expectations on emotional processing might also change throughout the lifespan. Hence, the investigators' goal is to explore the neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying positive expectation effects in healthy aging. Healthy older adults (N=55; 50% female) will be invited to a cross-over (positive expectation vs. no expectations induced) fMRI experiment during which they will perform an emotional interference task that manipulates cognitive resources. The investigators hypothesize that older adults demonstrate a resource-dependent positivity effect and that this effect will be further enhanced through the induction of positive expectations. Additionally, it is expected that these result are related to participants' general cognitive control ability and to be reflected on the corresponding neural correlates in prefrontal-limbic networks.

Conditions

Expectation Effects on Emotional Processing in Late Life

Keywords

Positive expectation; fMRI; Attentional mechanisms; Cognitive control; Aging

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Effects of positive expectation on mood

  Mood ratings via visual analogue scale (VAS), consisting of a scala from 0 to 400 points (0 meaning unhappy; 400 meaning happy). VAS will be extracted as a raw score and then normalized to the baseline VAS. It will be analyzed following the time course of the experiment and as an average of the VAS measured during the scanner on each day.

  Before the intervention (VAS baseline), after 10 minutes, after 25 minutes, after 40 minutes and after the scanning (55 minutes after the baseline) on each day.

• Effects of positive expectation on reaction time data

  Reaction times from the emotional interference task will be extracted and sampled for 5 emotional (happy, fearful, sad, neutral and scrambled faces) and 2 attention (high and low attention to faces) conditions and their interaction.

  After the intervention, participants will performed this task during 45 minutes while lying in the scanner on each day.

• Effects of positive expectation on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signals

  Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to extract and analyze BOLD signals (whole brain and regions of interest) in response to the emotional and attention conditions and their interaction.

  Participants will lie in the scanner for approximately 45 minutes while performing the emotional interference task, after the intervention on each day.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Fixation and gaze shifts behaviors (eye-tracking)

  Participants fixation patterns will be recorded during the performance of the emotional interference task (for 45 minutes) on each day.

Study Arms (2)

Placebo - Control

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this group receive sham oxytocin on the first study day.

Other: Saline nasal spray

Control - Placebo

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this group receive sham oxytocin on the second study day

Other: Saline nasal spray

Interventions

Saline nasal spray OTHER

A saline nasal spray will be introduced as saline on the first day (no induced expectations) and as oxytocin on the second day (induced positive expectations)

Control - Placebo; Placebo - Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Aged above 60 years
• MRI compatible
• Medical information and signed declaration of consent
• No history of psychiatric or neurological disorders

You may not qualify if:

• Current intake of central nervous system active drugs
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score below 26
• BMI score above 30
• BDI score above 12

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf: lead
• German Research Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Systems Neuroscience

Hamburg, Hamburg, 20246, Germany

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Participants will be blinded to the real substance (saline nasal spray).
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr.

Model Details: A cross-over design will be employed by giving a saline nasal spray introduced either as oxytocin or as saline.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 24, 2024
• First Posted: February 9, 2024
• Study Start: November 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2024
• Study Completion: July 1, 2024
• Last Updated: December 11, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: With publication

Locations

DE (1)