Neural and Physiological Responses to Real-World Experiences

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01723410

Enrollment

Registered

2012-11-07

Start date

2013-01-31

Completion date

2015-01-31

Last updated

2015-12-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Gene Expression

Brief summary

UCLA researchers looking for healthy individuals (aged 35-50) who have a home computer with internet access, are not pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or currently breastfeeding (if female), to participate in a study investigating whether real-world experiences alter the brain and body. This study takes place over an eight week period and involves providing the names of 8 close friends or family members, completing a neuroimaging session, providing blood and saliva (for genetic analysis), and a 6-week period in which participants login twice a week to complete online questionnaires. Compensation is up to $210 for those who complete all aspects of the study. Please email realworld.ucla@gmail.com for more information.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALWriting about people

Subjects will be asked to write about other people in their lives once a week for 6-weeks.

OTHERWriting about places, objects

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

35 Years to 50 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Healthy adults between the ages of 35-50

Exclusion criteria

Following a structured telephone interview, prospective participants with the following conditions will not be able to participate: 1. claustrophobia, left-handedness, or presence of metal in their body (for the neuroimaging procedures), 2. possible presence of a depressive disorder, which may interfere with the gratitude intervention (assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire; Spitzer et al., 1999), 3. regular use of medications that may impact inflammatory processes (anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, opioids), 4. current smokers or excessive caffeine users (\> 600 mg/day) because of known effects on inflammation, and 5. pregnancy (which would affect oxytocin gene expression).

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
inflammatory gene expression	baseline, six weeks post manipulation	Changes in inflammatory gene expression from pre- to post-intervention.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
neural activity	baseline, six weeks post-intervention	Changes in neural activity from pre- to post-intervention.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026