Behavior, Social, Interpersonal Relations, Psychology, Social, Social Interaction
Conditions
Brief summary
This study is about how brain function and structure is different between two universities. Participant in this project will contribute to a better understanding of how universities affect the brain.
Detailed description
Some study details are purposely omitted at this time to preserve scientific integrity. Now that the study is completed, full details are included below. The true purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the two computer tasks that participants completed. Specifically, researchers wanted to know if they would be able to accurately measure motivated empathy. To better understand this, participants were asked to rate images of people expressing pain and were told that these were either students from their university or students from a different university. This was not the case. The faces shown were random images produced for a research study. Researchers also wanted to know if they could accurately measure moral decision making and how those judgments relate to aggression. To examine this, participants were asked whether various scenarios were immoral and then asked about aggressive tendencies.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALPsychological task
Participants will complete a psychological task that evokes antisocially- and prosocially-motivated empathic responding
Sponsors
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Undergraduate students aged 18 - 35 years of age * No current or regular use of prescribed or illicit psychoactive drugs * Free of major health problems (e.g., diabetes, HIV, Parkinson's disease) * Free of a neurological or psychiatric disorders * No current drug abuse (e.g., recreational drug use, average alcohol intake in excess of 4 drinks per day). * Right hand dominant * Free of claustrophobia * Free of pregnancy or suspected pregnancy * Absent MRI risk factors (e.g., implanted medical device, body mass index \> 35, braces) * Free of medical conditions that render individuals with overly sensitive hearing * No colorblindness
Exclusion criteria
• Not meeting the inclusion criteria listed above.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Prefrontal Cortex Brain Activity Assessed by fMRI | Baseline to 3 hours | Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent signal change in the cognitive empathy brain network will be assessed using functional MRI |
| Change in Accuracy of Empathic Pain Judgments | Baseline to 3 hours | Difference in pain judgment scores rated from 1 (low) to 4 (high) between antisocial vs prosocial empathy trials |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Low Psychopathy Distribution Participants who score at the low end of the psychopathy distribution | 18 |
| High Psychopathy Distribution Participants who score at the high end of the psychopathy distribution | 18 |
| Total | 36 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Low Psychopathy Distribution | Total | High Psychopathy Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 20.24 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.75 | 20.41 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.43 | 20.59 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.12 |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Asian | 3 Participants | 8 Participants | 5 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Black or African-American | 5 Participants | 6 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Missing Data | 1 Participants | 2 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Multiracial | 1 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Other Race | 2 Participants | 2 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race Pacific Islander | 1 Participants | 1 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race White - Hispanic | 3 Participants | 4 Participants | 1 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Race White - Non-Hispanic | 2 Participants | 12 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 18 participants | 36 participants | 18 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 18 Participants | 36 Participants | 18 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk |
|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 36 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 36 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 36 |
Outcome results
Primary
Change in Accuracy of Empathic Pain Judgments
Difference in pain judgment scores rated from 1 (low) to 4 (high) between antisocial vs prosocial empathy trials
Time frame: Baseline to 3 hours
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Psychopathy Distribution | Change in Accuracy of Empathic Pain Judgments | .49 difference in pain scores | Standard Deviation 0.14 |
| High Psychopathy Distribution | Change in Accuracy of Empathic Pain Judgments | .39 difference in pain scores | Standard Deviation 0.14 |
Primary
Change in Prefrontal Cortex Brain Activity Assessed by fMRI
Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent signal change in the cognitive empathy brain network will be assessed using functional MRI
Time frame: Baseline to 3 hours
| Arm | Measure | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Psychopathy Distribution | Change in Prefrontal Cortex Brain Activity Assessed by fMRI | -0.002 Percent BOLD Signal Change | Standard Deviation 0.163 |
| High Psychopathy Distribution | Change in Prefrontal Cortex Brain Activity Assessed by fMRI | 0.015 Percent BOLD Signal Change | Standard Deviation 0.105 |