AnxietyALPHANCT04187326
Assessing Visual Processing in High Anxiety
A study testing Facial Microexpression Training in people with Anxiety, run by University of Massachusetts, Worcester at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
High trait anxiety, a stable personality trait, is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty differentiating safety from threat, including visual information like emotional faces. This study aims to characterize visual system function in high trait anxiety. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 30 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Anxiety
- What is being tested?
- Facial Microexpression Training
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 23 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Mar 2021to 15 Mar 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
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 30 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- Young adults varying continuously in trait anxiety as assessed by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
- HTA participants with STAI trait scores of ≥44
Who cannot join
- contraindication to MRI
- history of head trauma or loss of consciousness
- major medical or neurological illness
- current psychiatric medication usage or use in the last three months
- alcohol/substance abuse or dependence and/or illicit substance use (excepting cannabis) in the last three months
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Massachusetts Chan School of Medicine
Worcester, Massachusetts, 01655
About this study
Official title: Feed Forward Visual System Function In High Trait Anxiety
High trait anxiety, a stable personality trait, is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty differentiating safety from threat, including visual information like emotional faces. This study aims to characterize visual system function in high trait anxiety. A portion of this study involves an intervention. For the intervention portion, a subset of participants will be asked to return for a lab visit upon completing the first portion of the study (multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan). During this follow up visit, participants will complete a computer task that involves looking at faces and identifying emotions. Participants will complete this task either six months or twelve months after their MRI scan visit. Results from this research have the potential to inform novel therapies that target the visual system in individuals at risk for the development of psychiatric disorders.
Read the detailed description
The purpose of this study is to understand how people with anxious personalities process emotional facial expressions. The intervention portion of this study is part of a larger study. The first portion of this study consists of a screening visit with questionnaires, and a second visit with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and short computer tasks.
For the intervention portion of this study, a subset of participants will return to the lab for an in-person visit either six or twelve months after their MRI scan. This visit will last approximately two hours. Participants will be asked to complete a computer task where they will be asked to identify emotional face expressions and receive feedback on their performance. They will also complete questionnaires about their mood and emotions.
The primary purpose of this research is to gather scientific information about how people with anxiety process social and emotional information.
- Conditions
- Anxiety
- Being tested
- Facial Microexpression Training
- Keywords
- visual processing
- Medical subject headings
- Anxiety Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Facial Microexpression TrainingBehavioural
The METT is a well-validated task designed to improve perception of subtle changes in facial expressions, termed microexpressions. Participants with high trait anxiety will return to the lab approximately six months post scan visit to complete this computer-based task. They will receive feedback during the task on their accuracy.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Month Micro Expression Training Task | Experimental | The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. Receives: Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training |
| 12 Month Micro Expression Training Task | Experimental | The Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. Participants in this group will complete this task twelve month after their first visit. Receives: Behavioral: Facial Microexpression Training |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Tolerability of the Micro Expression Training Task in Individuals With High Anxiety
Rates of completion of the behavioral task
Measured: six or twelve months post-scan visit
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted5 Dec 2019
- Study start1 Mar 2021
- Primary completion15 Mar 2024
- Study completion15 Mar 2024
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for AnxietyStudies 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
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- The study team will use a waitlist-control design. A subset of participants will return to complete visual training using the Micro Expression Training Tool (METT). Half of these participants will complete the task at their first follow up visit (approximately six months post scan), and half will complete the task at their second follow up visit (approximately twelve months post scan). The METT presents videos of micro expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. We will collect performance accuracy data. This behavioral task will provide preliminary feasibility data for the development of interventions with visual system targets by helping the investigators determine if the METT is tolerable in individuals with high trait anxiety.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 23 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Massachusetts, Worcester
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Elliot Kale Edmiston, University of Massachusetts, Worcester
- Investigators
- Elliot K Edmiston, PhD, Principal investigator, Associate Professor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04187326
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STUDY19010289
- Other IDs
- 1K01MH117290-01A1
- Acronym
- ALPHA
- Status last verified
- Aug 2025
- First submitted
- 3 Dec 2019
- Last updated
- 4 Sep 2025
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Sep 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Feed Forward Visual System Function In High Trait Anxiety
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04187326
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- ALPHA / STUDY19010289
- Conditions
- Anxiety
- Keywords
- visual processing
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 23 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Massachusetts, WorcesterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- 1 Mar 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 15 Mar 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 15 Mar 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 5 Dec 2019 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 4 Sep 2025
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
High trait anxiety, a stable personality trait, is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. Individuals with high trait anxiety have difficulty differentiating safety from threat, including visual information like emotional faces. This study aims to characterize visual system function in high trait anxiety. A portion of this study involves an intervention. For the intervention portion, a subset of participants will be asked to return for a lab visit upon completing the first portion of the study (multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan). During this follow up visit, participants will complete a computer task that involves looking at faces and identifying emotions. Participants will complete this task either six months or twelve months after their MRI scan visit. Results from this research have the potential to inform novel therapies that target the visual system in individuals at risk for the development of psychiatric disorders.
Detailed description
The purpose of this study is to understand how people with anxious personalities process emotional facial expressions. The intervention portion of this study is part of a larger study. The first portion of this study consists of a screening visit with questionnaires, and a second visit with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and short computer tasks.
For the intervention portion of this study, a subset of participants will return to the lab for an in-person visit either six or twelve months after their MRI scan. This visit will last approximately two hours. Participants will be asked to complete a computer task where they will be asked to identify emotional face expressions and receive feedback on their performance. They will also complete questionnaires about their mood and emotions.
The primary purpose of this research is to gather scientific information about how people with anxiety process social and emotional information.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- The study team will use a waitlist-control design. A subset of participants will return to complete visual training using the Micro Expression Training Tool (METT). Half of these participants will complete the task at their first follow up visit (approximately six months post scan), and half will complete the task at their second follow up visit (approximately twelve months post scan). The METT presents videos of micro expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. We will collect performance accuracy data. This behavioral task will provide preliminary feasibility data for the development of interventions with visual system targets by helping the investigators determine if the METT is tolerable in individuals with high trait anxiety.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Month Micro Expression Training Task | Experimental | Behavioral: Facial Microexpression TrainingThe Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. |
| 12 Month Micro Expression Training Task | Experimental | Behavioral: Facial Microexpression TrainingThe Micro Expression Training Task (METT) presents videos of subtle emotional face expressions; participants receive real-time feedback following forced choice emotional identification. The METT includes a brief pre-test, training, and then a post-test. Participants in this group will complete this task twelve month after their first visit. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 30 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Young adults varying continuously in trait anxiety as assessed by the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
- HTA participants with STAI trait scores of ≥44
Key exclusion criteria (5 listed)
- contraindication to MRI
- history of head trauma or loss of consciousness
- major medical or neurological illness
- current psychiatric medication usage or use in the last three months
- alcohol/substance abuse or dependence and/or illicit substance use (excepting cannabis) in the last three months
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Facial Microexpression TrainingThe METT is a well-validated task designed to improve perception of subtle changes in facial expressions, termed microexpressions. Participants with high trait anxiety will return to the lab approximately six months post scan visit to complete this computer-based task. They will receive feedback during the task on their accuracy. | Behavioural | 12 Month Micro Expression Training Task, 6 Month Micro Expression Training Task |
Primary outcome
Tolerability of the Micro Expression Training Task in Individuals With High Anxiety
Time frame: six or twelve months post-scan visit
Rates of completion of the behavioral task
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Sep 2025.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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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.
Elliot K Edmiston, PhD principal investigator
Associate Professor
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Facial Microexpression Training in people with Anxiety, run by University of Massachusetts, Worcester 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 2 inclusion and 5 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 4 Sep 2025. 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?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 4 Sep 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
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.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Tolerability of the Micro Expression Training Task in Individuals With High Anxiety (time frame: six or twelve months post-scan visit). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
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 4 Sep 2025.