Stimulating the Social Brain

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy Adults

Treatments: Device: sham tDCS; Device: active anodal tDCS

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03374631

17-126

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study investigates whether the way in which individuals process social stimuli can be altered, and specifically, whether feelings of paranoia and suspiciousness can be reduced by stimulating the brain's regulatory regions via transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).

Full description

Although paranoid ideation is typically associated with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, 10-15% of individuals in the general population report experiencing paranoid thoughts on a regular basis. These individuals who are high in sub-clinical paranoia can show impaired work and social functioning as compared to individuals low in sub-clinical paranoia. The wide spread prevalence and negative functional impact of heightened paranoia reinforces the need to develop interventions that may help to reduce problematic patterns of paranoid thinking in both healthy individuals and those with mental illness.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a form of noninvasive neurostimulation which has been proposed as a therapeutic procedure in numerous psychiatric conditions. TDCS therefore may be a promising therapeutic technique for reducing symptoms of psychosis, and specifically paranoia. This study will compare experiences of paranoid ideation in individuals who are high in sub-clinical paranoia across two conditions: active anodal tDCS and sham tDCS.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 35 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• between the ages of 18 ad 35
• previous classification as being high in sub-clinical paranoia

Exclusion criteria

• diagnosis of mental illness
• use of psychotropic medication
• Presence or history of medical, cardiac, or neurological disorders that may affect brain function (e.g., cardiac disease, endocrine disorders, renal disease, pulmonary disease, history of seizures or head trauma with unconsciousness for a period of 15 minutes or greater or CNS tumors)
• Presence of sensory limitation including visual (e.g., blindness, glaucoma, vision uncorrectable to 20/40) or hearing (e.g. hearing loss) impairments that interfere with assessment
• Not proficient in English
• Contraindications for tDCS (e.g., pregnancy or implanted devices such as pace maker)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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40 participants in 2 patient groups

Active anodal tDCS, Then Sham tDCS

Experimental group

Description:

Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing

Treatment:

Device: active anodal tDCS

Device: sham tDCS

Sham tDCS, then Active anodal tDCS

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing.

Treatment:

Device: active anodal tDCS

Device: sham tDCS