Effort and Antidepressant Study Test
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phasePhase 1, Phase 2
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-40
SponsorUniversity of Oxford
About this trial
The aim of this study is to investigate the behavioural effects and neural correlates of increasing serotonin levels in healthy volunteers, through a 7-day course of the SSRI escitalopram, on an effort-based decision-making task measuring self-benefiting and prosocial behaviours.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Participant is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the research
Aged 18 to 40 years
Sufficient knowledge of English language to understand and complete study tasks
Right-handed
Disqualifiers
Current or past probable diagnosis of psychiatric illness, according to DSM-5 criteria requiring intervention by a healthcare professional, including but not limited to psychosis, bipolar disorder, major depression, OCD, PTSD, substance abuse disorder or any eating disorder
Current or past diagnosis of any significant personality disorder (e.g., borderline personality disorder) according to self-report
Diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactive disorder or autistic spectrum disorder that impairs daily functioning, requires pharmacotherapy or in the opinion of the study medic would affect the scientific integrity of the study
Current use of medication that might interact with the effects of escitalopram or affect the scientific integrity of the study
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Escitalopram 10mg
DrugEscitalopram 10 mg, encapsulated in an opaque capsule to facilitate blinding of participant and researcher
Placebo 10 mg
DrugPlacebo 10 mg, encapsulated in an opaque capsule to facilitate blinding of participant and researcher
Treatment groups
50 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: EscitalopramExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: PlaceboPlacebo comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Effort-based decision-making task for self-benefiting and prosocial behaviours: behavioural correlates
In the fMRI scanner task, participants are prompted to choose between two offers on each trial. One option allows them to earn a low reward for minimal effort (rest), while the other presents a variable higher-reward, higher-effort (work) of the same duration. The low-reward, low-effort offer earns 1 point without exertion. Higher-reward, higher-effort offers range from 2 to 10 points (in 2-point-increments) and effort varies from 30% to 70% (in 10% increments) of their MVC. Each trial differs in whether the outcome is delivered to the participant themselves (self) or someone else (prosocial). Effort levels for each offer are visually represented using coloured portions of a pie chart and rewards (points) are displayed in colour below.
Time frame
Day 7 of treatment2
Effort-based decision-making for self-benefiting and prosocial behaviours: Neural correlates
Activity of brain regions associated with self-benefiting and prosocial behaviours
Time frame
Day 7 of treatmentSecondary outcomes
1
Emotional processing: Faces task
During the emotional processing face task participants will be presented with pictures of emotional faces and asked to label the emotions into different categories.
Time frame
Day 7 of treatment2
Prosocial behaviour: Social learning task
This game involves making fictitious investment decisions with other "previous participants in our lab" (programmed responses) and trying to maximize the number of points earned in the game.
Time frame
Day 7 of treatmentLocations
Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
University of Oxford
Lead sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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