Drug DependenceNCT00047866
Brain Function in Response to Motivational Stimuli
An observational study of Drug Dependence, run by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
This study seeks more information about the biology of substance dependency by exploring the brain areas involved in feeling positive and negative emotions. Specifically, it will determine whether a brain chemical called dopamine affects activity in certain brain regions during performance of a game that involves… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 65 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Drug Dependence
- How many people
- 38 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 12 Oct 2002to 25 Jun 2010
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 65 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Subjects are physically healthy as determined by medical evaluation at the NIAAA outpatient clinic. In particular, subjects must demonstrate no cardiovascular or blood pressure abnormalities, such as a resting blood pressure of 140/90 or greater. All values of laboratory test must be within the NIH defined normal range and all radiological and cardiac evaluations must be considered normal by the NIH radiologist or cardiologist reading the scan or record. As is usual clinical practice, in the case of minor abnormalities a lab test may be repeated to ensure the validity of the initial report.
- Are between 18-65 years of age.
- Have 20/20 vision or wear corrective contact lenses. Plastic glasses with pop-in lenses of different strengths are available in the NMR center for use with nearsighted subjects who do not wear contacts.
- Have no ferromagnetic objects in their bodies which might be adversely affected by MRI (e.g. surgical clips; metal fragments in or near brain; eye or blood vessels; cardiac or neurological pacemaker; cochlear or eye implant - any doubt about absence of these objects will result in exclusion from this study).
- Test HIV negative.
- Have no indication of any organic brain syndrome.
Show all 11Show fewer
- Do not meet criteria for any present or past Axis I psychiatric disorder, including nicotine dependence. Smokers will be excluded.
- Have no active homicidal or suicidal ideation, or active symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Are not currently receiving psychotropic medication or medication likely to affect brain neurotransmitter systems.
- Have no indication of recent drug use as evidenced by urine drug screen and self-report.
- Are not pregnant or lactating.
Who cannot join
None listed.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
About this study
Official title: Brain Activation in Response to Motivational and Affective Stimuli: Pharmacological Manipulations
This study seeks more information about the biology of substance dependency by exploring the brain areas involved in feeling positive and negative emotions. Specifically, it will determine whether a brain chemical called dopamine affects activity in certain brain regions during performance of a game that involves winning and losing money. Brain activity will be examined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a test that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of brain structure and function.
Young to middle-aged healthy adults may participate in this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history, physical examination, electrocardiogram (EKG), psychiatric interview, and blood and urine tests. Participants will be assigned to one of the two study procedures, as follows:
Read more
Tyrosine/Phenylalanine
This study requires two overnight stays at the NIH Clinical Center. For each stay, subjects are admitted to the hospital the afternoon before the MRI scan. From the time of admission until after the scan, their diets are restricted to food relatively low in amino acids, prepared by NIH dietitians. The next day, participants undergo MRI scanning. For this procedure, the subject lies on a table that is moved into the scanner, a metal cylindrical machine. Earplugs are worn to muffle loud noises that occur with electrical switching of the radio frequency circuits. Imaging of brain structure takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Additional scans are then taken to measure brain activity while the subject plays simple computer games for money. These scans take about another 20 to 45 minutes. Five hours before the MRI, the subject drinks one of two beverages containing amino acids. A different beverage is given for each of the two visits: one drink lacks the essential amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine, from which the body makes dopamine; the other contains balanced amounts of these two amino acids. Finally, subjects fill out mood-rating questionnaires before and after drinking each of the beverages.
Dextroamphetamine
This study requires two outpatient visits to the NIH Clinical Center. For one visit, participants are given an injection of 0.2 mg/kg body weight of the drug dextroamphetamine; for the other, they are given an injection of saline (salt water). After each injection, they undergo MRI scanning while playing computer games for money, as described above. They will fill out mood-rating questionnaires before and after each brain scan.
Read the detailed description
The purpose of this protocol is to advance the understanding of the behavioral neurobiology underlying substance dependency by exploring regional brain activity in response to appetitive and aversive stimuli in human subjects. In this protocol, brain activation is the dependent measure, as measured by blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal acquired during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging. Previous work in this laboratory has found that cues of anticipated monetary reward versus threat of negative reinforcement causes increased BOLD signal in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and other parts of the ventral striatum. This protocol is intended to extend these findings by exploring whether the recently reported BOLD activation (a hemodynamic response) in certain brain regions in response to motivational cues can be perturbed by dopaminergic pharmacological manipulations.
In a series of two, repeated-measures, within-subject experiments, we propose to temporarily alter subjects' brain monoamine neurotransmitter systems with pharmacological interventions prior to presenting the subjects with appetitive and aversive visual stimuli as well as cues signaling potential punishment and reward. In the first experiment, brain catecholamine systems will be deactivated by dietary restrictions of amino acid precursors Tyrosine (Tyr) and Phenylalanine (Phe), respectively. In the second experiment, the brain dopamine (DA) release will be transiently increased with administration of dextroamphetamine (Amph). Based on a wealth of existent findings, we predict that acutely enhancing synaptic DA by Amph will augment reward-elicited activation in the ventral striatum. Conversely, acute dietary restriction of the DA precursor Tyr, (along with Tyr precursor Phe) will blunt this activation. Since substance use disorders (SUD) such as alcoholism may result from disordered neural systems regulating approach and avoidance behavior (with respect to the substance), this experiment can yield useful knowledge relevant to SUD.
- Conditions
- Drug Dependence
- Keywords
- Limbic System, Amphetamine, Dopamine, Brain Imaging, Cerebral Blood Flow, Cerebral Blood Volume, Alcoholism, Tyrosine Depletion, Amino Acids, Affect, Healthy Volunteer, HV
- Medical subject headings
- Substance-Related Disorders, Alcoholism
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted23 Oct 2002 (estimated)
- Study start12 Oct 2002
- Study completion25 Jun 2010
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (3)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Drug DependenceStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Enrolment
- 38 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
- Sponsor type
- US National Institutes of Health
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00047866
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 030013
- Other IDs
- 03-AA-0013
- Status last verified
- 25 Jun 2010
- First submitted
- 22 Oct 2002
- Last updated
- 2 Jul 2017
- Results posted
- No
Publications
Holland P, Mushinski M. Costs of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States, 1992. Alcohol/Drugs COI Study Team. Stat Bull Metrop Insur Co. 1999 Oct-Dec;80(4):2-9.
PubMed 10553265Koob GF. Neurobiology of addiction. Toward the development of new therapies. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;909:170-85. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06682.x.
PubMed 10911930Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Fowler JS, Logan J, Gatley SJ, Hitzemann R, Chen AD, Dewey SL, Pappas N. Decreased striatal dopaminergic responsiveness in detoxified cocaine-dependent subjects. Nature. 1997 Apr 24;386(6627):830-3. doi: 10.1038/386830a0.
PubMed 9126741
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 2 Jul 2017. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Brain Activation in Response to Motivational and Affective Stimuli: Pharmacological Manipulations
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00047866
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 030013
- Conditions
- Drug Dependence
- Keywords
- Limbic System, Amphetamine, Dopamine, Brain Imaging, Cerebral Blood Flow, Cerebral Blood Volume, Alcoholism, Tyrosine Depletion
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 38 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)US National Institutes of Health
- Study start
- 12 Oct 2002
- Study completion
- 25 Jun 2010
- First posted
- 23 Oct 2002 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study seeks more information about the biology of substance dependency by exploring the brain areas involved in feeling positive and negative emotions. Specifically, it will determine whether a brain chemical called dopamine affects activity in certain brain regions during performance of a game that involves winning and losing money. Brain activity will be examined using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a test that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of brain structure and function.
Young to middle-aged healthy adults may participate in this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history, physical examination, electrocardiogram (EKG), psychiatric interview, and blood and urine tests. Participants will be assigned to one of the two study procedures, as follows:
Tyrosine/Phenylalanine
This study requires two overnight stays at the NIH Clinical Center. For each stay, subjects are admitted to the hospital the afternoon before the MRI scan. From the time of admission until after the scan, their diets are restricted to food relatively low in amino acids, prepared by NIH dietitians. The next day, participants undergo MRI scanning. For this procedure, the subject lies on a table that is moved into the scanner, a metal cylindrical machine. Earplugs are worn to muffle loud noises that occur with electrical switching of the radio frequency circuits. Imaging of brain structure takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Additional scans are then taken to measure brain activity while the subject plays simple computer games for money. These scans take about another 20 to 45 minutes. Five hours before the MRI, the subject drinks one of two beverages containing amino acids. A different beverage is given for each of the two visits: one drink lacks the essential amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine, from which the body makes dopamine; the other contains balanced amounts of these two amino acids. Finally, subjects fill out mood-rating questionnaires before and after drinking each of the beverages.
Dextroamphetamine
This study requires two outpatient visits to the NIH Clinical Center. For one visit, participants are given an injection of 0.2 mg/kg body weight of the drug dextroamphetamine; for the other, they are given an injection of saline (salt water). After each injection, they undergo MRI scanning while playing computer games for money, as described above. They will fill out mood-rating questionnaires before and after each brain scan.
Detailed description
The purpose of this protocol is to advance the understanding of the behavioral neurobiology underlying substance dependency by exploring regional brain activity in response to appetitive and aversive stimuli in human subjects. In this protocol, brain activation is the dependent measure, as measured by blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal acquired during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging. Previous work in this laboratory has found that cues of anticipated monetary reward versus threat of negative reinforcement causes increased BOLD signal in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and other parts of the ventral striatum. This protocol is intended to extend these findings by exploring whether the recently reported BOLD activation (a hemodynamic response) in certain brain regions in response to motivational cues can be perturbed by dopaminergic pharmacological manipulations.
In a series of two, repeated-measures, within-subject experiments, we propose to temporarily alter subjects' brain monoamine neurotransmitter systems with pharmacological interventions prior to presenting the subjects with appetitive and aversive visual stimuli as well as cues signaling potential punishment and reward. In the first experiment, brain catecholamine systems will be deactivated by dietary restrictions of amino acid precursors Tyrosine (Tyr) and Phenylalanine (Phe), respectively. In the second experiment, the brain dopamine (DA) release will be transiently increased with administration of dextroamphetamine (Amph). Based on a wealth of existent findings, we predict that acutely enhancing synaptic DA by Amph will augment reward-elicited activation in the ventral striatum. Conversely, acute dietary restriction of the DA precursor Tyr, (along with Tyr precursor Phe) will blunt this activation. Since substance use disorders (SUD) such as alcoholism may result from disordered neural systems regulating approach and avoidance behavior (with respect to the substance), this experiment can yield useful knowledge relevant to SUD.
Study design
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (11 listed)
- Subjects are physically healthy as determined by medical evaluation at the NIAAA outpatient clinic. In particular, subjects must demonstrate no cardiovascular or blood pressure abnormalities, such as a resting blood pressure of 140/90 or greater. All values of laboratory test must be within the NIH defined normal range and all radiological and cardiac evaluations must be considered normal by the NIH radiologist or cardiologist reading the scan or record. As is usual clinical practice, in the case of minor abnormalities a lab test may be repeated to ensure the validity of the initial report.
- Are between 18-65 years of age.
- Have 20/20 vision or wear corrective contact lenses. Plastic glasses with pop-in lenses of different strengths are available in the NMR center for use with nearsighted subjects who do not wear contacts.
- Have no ferromagnetic objects in their bodies which might be adversely affected by MRI (e.g. surgical clips; metal fragments in or near brain; eye or blood vessels; cardiac or neurological pacemaker; cochlear or eye implant - any doubt about absence of these objects will result in exclusion from this study).
- Test HIV negative.
Key exclusion criteria (0 listed)
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Not reported in the source record.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 2 Jul 2017.
- Background: PubMed 10553265Holland P, Mushinski M. Costs of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States, 1992. Alcohol/Drugs COI Study Team. Stat Bull Metrop Insur Co. 1999 Oct-Dec;80(4):2-9.
- Background: PubMed 10911930Koob GF. Neurobiology of addiction. Toward the development of new therapies. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;909:170-85. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06682.x.
- Background: PubMed 9126741Volkow ND, Wang GJ, Fowler JS, Logan J, Gatley SJ, Hitzemann R, Chen AD, Dewey SL, Pappas N. Decreased striatal dopaminergic responsiveness in detoxified cocaine-dependent subjects. Nature. 1997 Apr 24;386(6627):830-3. doi: 10.1038/386830a0.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Drug Dependence, run by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 11 inclusion and 0 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 2 Jul 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00047866, which also lists 3 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 2 Jul 2017; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 29 Oct 2026.