Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-05 @ 11:25 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 9:07 AM
Study NCT ID:
NCT00032838
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2008-03-04
First Post:
2002-04-03
Brief Title:
Effects of Stress Hormones on Emotion and Cognition
Sponsor:
National Institute of Mental Health NIMH
Organization:
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center CC
Study Overview
Official Title:
The Effects of Cortisol and Norepinephrine Modulation on Emotional and Nonemotional Processing
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2006-01
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
The purpose of this study is to examine how hormonal changes that occur during stressful situations affect thought and emotions Results from this study may lead to treatments that can alleviate the psychological effects of trauma
Levels of cortisol and norepinephrine increase in response to stress these hormones also influence thought processes This study will give hydrocortisone andor yohimbine a stimulator of central norepinephrine to healthy adults in order to model the stress response and to better understand the way people process information during traumatic events
This study comprises two experiments in which the stress response is pharmacologically modeled Participants in the study will have two study visits During Visit 1 participants will undergo a psychiatric assessment complete neuropsychological tasks and have their IQ measured During Visit 2 participants will be given hydrocortisone andor yohimbine Blood will be collected before and during this Participants will then perform two experiments In one experiment participants will hear a story with emotional and non-emotional segments in a second experiment participants will view both emotional and non-emotional stimuli
Levels of cortisol and norepinephrine increase in response to stress these hormones also influence thought processes This study will give hydrocortisone andor yohimbine a stimulator of central norepinephrine to healthy adults in order to model the stress response and to better understand the way people process information during traumatic events
This study comprises two experiments in which the stress response is pharmacologically modeled Participants in the study will have two study visits During Visit 1 participants will undergo a psychiatric assessment complete neuropsychological tasks and have their IQ measured During Visit 2 participants will be given hydrocortisone andor yohimbine Blood will be collected before and during this Participants will then perform two experiments In one experiment participants will hear a story with emotional and non-emotional segments in a second experiment participants will view both emotional and non-emotional stimuli
Detailed Description:
Memories for traumatic events are fundamentally different from typical memories Individuals who witness or are involved in an extremely stressful event such as a robbery or a violent act retain highly accurate memories for the information directly related to the trauma eg a gun or verbal threat while surrounding details are poorly remembered This so-called weapon focus phenomenon has been found in both naturalistic and laboratory studies with humans However difficulties with the control of naturalistic studies and approximating trauma in the lab limit the validity of these findings
Neurophysiologically cortisol and norepinephrine are principal mediators of the stress response and both influence memory function In particular cortisol improves memory at low levels but impairs memory at higher doses Similarly some evidence indicates that norepinephrine also enhances memory in low doses and either impairs or does not influence memory at high doses Much of the experimental work in this area has been conducted with animals Studies have recently begun to extend these paradigms to humans
To better understand memory processing during trauma hydrocortisone andor yohimbine a stimulator of central norepinephrine will be administered to healthy adults in two experiments in order to pharmacologically model the stress response Following infusion participants will hear a story with emotional and nonemotional segments in one experiment N 80 and emotional as well as nonemotional stimuli faces and scenes in another experiment N 80 It is predicted that relative to the placebo hydrocortisone will impair memory for both emotional and nonemotional information yohimbine will improve memory for both types of information and the combination of hydrocortisone and yohimbine will enhance memory for emotional aspects and impair memory for the nonemotional segments of the story Results from this study will permit a better understanding of how emotionally charged memories are encoded and will potentially lead to treatments to mitigate the psychological effects of traumatic exposure
Neurophysiologically cortisol and norepinephrine are principal mediators of the stress response and both influence memory function In particular cortisol improves memory at low levels but impairs memory at higher doses Similarly some evidence indicates that norepinephrine also enhances memory in low doses and either impairs or does not influence memory at high doses Much of the experimental work in this area has been conducted with animals Studies have recently begun to extend these paradigms to humans
To better understand memory processing during trauma hydrocortisone andor yohimbine a stimulator of central norepinephrine will be administered to healthy adults in two experiments in order to pharmacologically model the stress response Following infusion participants will hear a story with emotional and nonemotional segments in one experiment N 80 and emotional as well as nonemotional stimuli faces and scenes in another experiment N 80 It is predicted that relative to the placebo hydrocortisone will impair memory for both emotional and nonemotional information yohimbine will improve memory for both types of information and the combination of hydrocortisone and yohimbine will enhance memory for emotional aspects and impair memory for the nonemotional segments of the story Results from this study will permit a better understanding of how emotionally charged memories are encoded and will potentially lead to treatments to mitigate the psychological effects of traumatic exposure
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None
Secondary IDs
| Secondary ID | Type | Domain | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02-M-0155 | None | None | None |