Cannabidiol Effects on Learning and Anxiety

University of Connecticut

Status and phase: Enrolling; Early Phase 1

Conditions: Anxiety and Fear

Treatments: Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Product; Other: Placebo

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05283382

H21-0159

Details and patient eligibility

About

To examine the extent to which Cannabidiol (CBD) enhances fear conditioning extinction in college undergraduates who show elevated social anxiety. Undergraduates who display elevated social anxiety on standard assessments will be recruited at the University of Connecticut. All participants will be put in a standard fear conditioning paradigm where they are conditioned to fear a face that occasionally is followed by a shock to their wrist. The other face never is paired with a shock. After everybody learns this, half of the participants will receive 600 mg CBD Isolate Gel Capsules one time, and the other half will receive a placebo dose. Participants will then be presented with the faces with no shocks, and the rate and duration of extinction as measured by electrodermal response as well as subjective fear ratings via a visual analogue scale will be examined. It is hypothesized that participants that receive CBD will display enhanced extinction compared to the placebo group, as evidenced by reduced electrodermal response and reduced visual analogue fear ratings.

Enrollment: 160 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 18-50 years of age

Exclusion criteria

1. Difficulties seeing a computer screen
2. Anyone currently taking CBD within the last 24 hours.
3. Anyone using any cannabis product within the last 24 hours.
4. Heart problems or heart disease
5. A neurological disorder such as epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis, tumor, vascular malformations, aneurysm
6. Are currently pregnant or breast-feeding

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

---

160 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Cannabidiol

Experimental group

Description:

600 mg Cannabidiol Isolate Gel Capsules / participant. One-time dose.

Treatment:

Drug: Cannabidiol Oral Product

Placebo

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Same number of placebo capsules / participant. One-time dose.

Treatment:

Other: Placebo