Suicide, AttemptedSUICIDE_DECIDENCT05230043
The Choice of a Violent Suicidal Means: a MRI Study With Computational Modeling of Decision-making
An observational study of Suicide, Attempted, run by Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes at 1 site in France.
Trial summary
The study authors hypothesize a combination of cognitive, brain structural, brain functional and brain connectivity impairments in Suicide Attempters compared to Patient Controls and Healthy Controls, with deficits more marked in suicide attempters using violent suicidal means including: 1. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 60 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Suicide, Attempted
- What is being tested?
- Algometer test and functional MRI
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteFrance
- Study dates
- 21 Mar 2022to 20 Sep 2023
- 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 60 years
- All sexes
- Adult
Study population: Four groups of participants will be recruited: 1. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) and at least one suicidal act committed with a violent means within the last 12 months. 2. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) and at least one suicidal act conducted within the last 12 months but no lifetime history of suicidal act with a violent means. 3. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) who never attempted suicide and have no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree. 4. 20 individuals with no personal history of major mental disorder or suicidal act and no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree.
Who may be able to join
- Right-handed (as assessed with the Edinburgh Handedness Scale).
- Agreement to participate and sign the informed consent form.
- Is insured or beneficiary of a health insurance plan.
- Speaks French.
- Suicide Attempters using Violent Means group:
- a personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders according to DSM-5 criteria measured with the MINI 7.0);
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- at least one suicidal act committed with a violent means within the last 5 years.
- Suicide Attempters using Non-Violent Means group:
- a personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders according to DSM-5 criteria measured with the MINI 7.0);
- at least one suicidal act conducted within the last 5 years;
- no lifetime history of suicidal act with a violent means.
- Patient Control group:
- a personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders according to DSM-5 criteria measured with the MINI 7.0);
- never attempted suicide in their lifetime;
- no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree.
- Healthy Control group:
- no personal history of major mental disorder according to the MINI 7.0;
- never attempted suicide in their lifetime;
- no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree.
Who cannot join
- Current participation or in the exclusion period of another research protocol in a category 1 RIPH
- Currently under judicial protection, or under adult guardianship.
- Refusal to participate.
- Is pregnant or breast feeding.
- The suicide attempt may have impacted the brain functioning (e.g. following hanging, asphyxia by drowning, head trauma following jumping from height, bullet impact, etc). This criteria will be assessed clinically by the investigator.
- Mental retardation (known or observed during the interview).
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- Current psychotic disorder (according to the MINI 7.0).
- Current hypomanic episode (according to the MINI 7.0).
- Current manic, mixed, rapid cycling episodes (according to the MINI 7.0).
- Alcohol or substance disorder within last 3 months (according to the MINI 7.0).
- Past major brain trauma (with loss of consciousness > 1 minute).
- Contra-indication to MRI (metal in body (including due to suicidal act), claustrophobia, impossibility to lie still on the back during one hour).
- Electroconvulsive therapy within the last three months.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
The study authors hypothesize a combination of cognitive, brain structural, brain functional and brain connectivity impairments in Suicide Attempters compared to Patient Controls and Healthy Controls, with deficits more marked in suicide attempters using violent suicidal means including:
- Impaired choices at the reversal learning task with responses influenced by immediate outcome. This deficit would be correlated with brain activity in ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex during resting state and with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Reduced loss aversion. These deficits would be related to altered dynamics of Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent signal in the dorsal and ventral striatum as well as in ventral Prefrontal Cortex/ orbitofrontal cortex during the loss aversion task. These deficits would also be correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Increased pain tolerance facilitating the execution of a violent and possibly painful act. These deficits measured with the algometer would be correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Reduced behavioral inhibition in aversive context at the orthogonalized GoNoGo task facilitating the choice of a violent means. These deficits would be associated with altered Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent signal in ventral Prefrontal Cortex/ orbitofrontal cortex and parietal cortex during the resting state and correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Conditions
- Suicide, Attempted
- Being tested
- Algometer test, functional MRI
- Keywords
- Neuroimaging, decision-making
- Medical subject headings
- Suicide, Attempted
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Algometer testOther
The computerized pressure algometer, AlgoMed (Medoc, Ramat Yishai, Israel), will be used for mechanical pain stimulation to assess information about pain threshold and tolerance. A constant rate of pressure is delivered by the examiner, and the pressure is recorded in Kilopascal (kPa). The stimulation will be applied between the medial and distal joints of the phalanges of the dominant hand.
functional MRIOther
- Two 8s sequences of spin echo field map with phase encoding AP and PA
- A 12:00min bold sequence for resting-state
- A 15:12min bold sequence for gambling task thickness=2mm, Matrix Size = 105×105, FOV=210×210mm2;
- A 6:38min T1w MPR sequence
- A 7:40min T1w MPR sequence
- A 5:57min T2w SPC sequence
- A 8:24min T2w SPC sequence
- A 8:32min FLAIR T2w sequence
- Two 8:26min Multi-echo GRE sequence
- A 8:29min high resolution multi-echo GRE sequence
- Two 6:46min multi-echo GRE sequence with and without magnetic transfer contrast
- Two 6:03min diffusion weighted images with phase encoding AP and PA
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Suicide Attempters using Violent Means | A violent suicidal act is any suicidal act conducted with any means except for medication overdose or superficial wrist cutting. Receives: Other: Algometer test; Other: functional MRI | |
| Patient Control | Not described Receives: Other: Algometer test; Other: functional MRI | |
| Healthy Controls | Not described Receives: Other: Algometer test; Other: functional MRI | |
| Suicide Attempters not using Violent Means | Not described Receives: Other: Algometer test; Other: functional MRI |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Brain activity between groups
Magnetic Resonance Imaging signal during the resting state and loss aversion task Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent sequences.
Measured: Day 0
Secondary outcomes (4)
Impaired reversal learning between groups
Proportion of participants in each group reaching the learning criterion of the Reversal learning task (8 consecutive correct trials) in each stage (acquisition and reversal).
Measured: Day 0
Loss aversion between groups
Level of acceptance/reject rate according to the size of the potential gain and loss in each trial of the Loss aversion task
Measured: Day 1
Pain tolerance between groups
Pressure pain tolerance threshold (mean of 3 consecutive trials) measured by algometer
Measured: Day 0
Behavioral inhibition in aversive context between groups
Response latencies in the reward-only condition vs. the reward+punishment condition in the inforced categorization task
Measured: Day 0
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted8 Feb 2022
- Study start21 Mar 2022
- Primary completion8 Sep 2023
- Study completion20 Sep 2023
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (2)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Suicide, AttemptedStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de NīmesThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- 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
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Fabrice Jollant, Study director, CHU Nimes
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05230043
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- LOCAL/2020/FJ-001
- Other IDs
- 2020-A03353-36
- Acronym
- SUICIDE_DECIDE
- Status last verified
- Dec 2025
- First submitted
- 28 Jan 2022
- Last updated
- 26 May 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Publications
Jollant F, Leon C. Suicidal transition rates and their predictors in the adult general population: a repeated survey over 21 years in France. Eur Psychiatry. 2024 Oct 29;67(1):e74. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.1782.
PubMed 39468715Zerekidze A, Bahlmann L, Petzold J, Li M, Colic L, Walter M, Pereira F, Abbar M, Jollant F, Wagner G. Risk, reward, and suicide: how impulsivity and loss aversion influence decision-making in individuals who have attempted suicide. Front Psychiatry. 2026 Apr 16;17:1791411. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1791411. eCollection 2026.
PubMed 42079315
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 26 May 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Choice of a Violent Suicidal Means: a MRI Study With Computational Modeling of Decision-making
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05230043
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- SUICIDE_DECIDE / LOCAL/2020/FJ-001
- Conditions
- Suicide, Attempted
- Keywords
- Neuroimaging, decision-making
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de NīmesUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 21 Mar 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 8 Sep 2023 (actual)
- Study completion
- 20 Sep 2023 (actual)
- First posted
- 8 Feb 2022 (actual)
- 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.
The study authors hypothesize a combination of cognitive, brain structural, brain functional and brain connectivity impairments in Suicide Attempters compared to Patient Controls and Healthy Controls, with deficits more marked in suicide attempters using violent suicidal means including:
- Impaired choices at the reversal learning task with responses influenced by immediate outcome. This deficit would be correlated with brain activity in ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex during resting state and with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Reduced loss aversion. These deficits would be related to altered dynamics of Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent signal in the dorsal and ventral striatum as well as in ventral Prefrontal Cortex/ orbitofrontal cortex during the loss aversion task. These deficits would also be correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Increased pain tolerance facilitating the execution of a violent and possibly painful act. These deficits measured with the algometer would be correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
- Reduced behavioral inhibition in aversive context at the orthogonalized GoNoGo task facilitating the choice of a violent means. These deficits would be associated with altered Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent signal in ventral Prefrontal Cortex/ orbitofrontal cortex and parietal cortex during the resting state and correlated with several peripheral markers of the 5HT-system.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Number of arms
- 4
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Suicide Attempters using Violent Means | – | Other: Algometer test, Other: functional MRIA violent suicidal act is any suicidal act conducted with any means except for medication overdose or superficial wrist cutting. |
| Patient Control | – | Other: Algometer test, Other: functional MRI |
| Healthy Controls | – | Other: Algometer test, Other: functional MRI |
| Suicide Attempters not using Violent Means | – | Other: Algometer test, Other: functional MRI |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 60 years
- Sex
- All
- Age groups
- Adult
- Study population
- Four groups of participants will be recruited: 1. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) and at least one suicidal act committed with a violent means within the last 12 months. 2. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) and at least one suicidal act conducted within the last 12 months but no lifetime history of suicidal act with a violent means. 3. 20 individuals with personal history of mood disorder (bipolar disorder or depressive disorders) who never attempted suicide and have no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree. 4. 20 individuals with no personal history of major mental disorder or suicidal act and no family history of suicidal behavior up to the second biological degree.
Key inclusion criteria (19 listed)
- Right-handed (as assessed with the Edinburgh Handedness Scale).
- Agreement to participate and sign the informed consent form.
- Is insured or beneficiary of a health insurance plan.
- Speaks French.
- Suicide Attempters using Violent Means group:
Key exclusion criteria (13 listed)
- Current participation or in the exclusion period of another research protocol in a category 1 RIPH
- Currently under judicial protection, or under adult guardianship.
- Refusal to participate.
- Is pregnant or breast feeding.
- The suicide attempt may have impacted the brain functioning (e.g. following hanging, asphyxia by drowning, head trauma following jumping from height, bullet impact, etc). This criteria will be assessed clinically by the investigator.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Algometer testThe computerized pressure algometer, AlgoMed (Medoc, Ramat Yishai, Israel), will be used for mechanical pain stimulation to assess information about pain threshold and tolerance. A constant rate of pressure is delivered by the examiner, and the pressure is recorded in Kilopascal (kPa). The stimulation will be applied between the medial and distal joints of the phalanges of the dominant hand. | Other | Healthy Controls, Patient Control, Suicide Attempters not using Violent Means, Suicide Attempters using Violent Means |
| functional MRI* Two 8s sequences of spin echo field map with phase encoding AP and PA * A 12:00min bold sequence for resting-state * A 15:12min bold sequence for gambling task thickness=2mm, Matrix Size = 105×105, FOV=210×210mm2; * A 6:38min T1w MPR sequence * A 7:40min T1w MPR sequence * A 5:57min T2w SPC sequence * A 8:24min T2w SPC sequence * A 8:32min FLAIR T2w sequence * Two 8:26min Multi-echo GRE sequence * A 8:29min high resolution multi-echo GRE sequence * Two 6:46min multi-echo GRE sequence with and without magnetic transfer contrast * Two 6:03min diffusion weighted images with phase encoding AP and PA | Other | Healthy Controls, Patient Control, Suicide Attempters not using Violent Means, Suicide Attempters using Violent Means |
Primary outcome
Brain activity between groups
Time frame: Day 0
Magnetic Resonance Imaging signal during the resting state and loss aversion task Blood-Oxygen Level Dependent sequences.
4 secondary outcomes
Impaired reversal learning between groups
Time frame: Day 0
Loss aversion between groups
Time frame: Day 1
Pain tolerance between groups
Time frame: Day 0
Behavioral inhibition in aversive context between groups
Time frame: Day 0
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 26 May 2026.
- Background: PubMed 39468715Jollant F, Leon C. Suicidal transition rates and their predictors in the adult general population: a repeated survey over 21 years in France. Eur Psychiatry. 2024 Oct 29;67(1):e74. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.1782.
- Results publication: PubMed 42079315Zerekidze A, Bahlmann L, Petzold J, Li M, Colic L, Walter M, Pereira F, Abbar M, Jollant F, Wagner G. Risk, reward, and suicide: how impulsivity and loss aversion influence decision-making in individuals who have attempted suicide. Front Psychiatry. 2026 Apr 16;17:1791411. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1791411. eCollection 2026.
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Suicide
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.
Fabrice Jollant study director
CHU Nimes
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 Suicide, Attempted, run by Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes at 1 site in France.
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 19 inclusion and 13 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 26 May 2026. 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 France. 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.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Brain activity between groups (time frame: Day 0). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05230043, which also lists 2 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 26 May 2026.