Social Psychology
Conditions
Brief summary
UCLA researchers looking for healthy older adults (aged 65+) to participate in a study investigating how writing about experiences can affect your brain and body. Once a week for 6 weeks, participants will write about their experiences and fill out online questionnaires. Participants will also come to the UCLA campus to complete a neuroimaging session (fMRI), provide a blood spot sample, and fill out questionnaires 2 times: once prior to the 6-week writing period and once immediately after the 6-week writing period.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWriting Intervention
Participants will be asked to write about different kinds of experiences.
Sponsors
University of California, Los Angeles
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)
Intervention model description
Randomized controlled trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Healthy adults age 65 years and older
Exclusion criteria
1. current smokers 2. active, uncontrolled medical disorders 3. chronic infection (e.g., Hepatitis C, HIV) 4. use of certain medications (steroid use, opioid use) 5. psychiatric disorders (e.g., current major depression, bipolar disorder) 6. body mass index (BMI) greater than 35 7. left-handed 8. claustrophobic 9. metal in body Other
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Psychological Distress | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | Composite measure of depression, anxiety, stress (Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger Trait Anxiety, and Perceived Stress Scale) |
| Change in Social Support | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | measure of perceived social support (Social Provisions Scale) |
| Change in Social Participation | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | measure of participation in social activities (Lifestyle Activities Questionnaire) |
| Change in Inflammatory Gene Expression | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | changes in proinflammatory gene expression |
| Change in Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC) Activity in response to stress | Baseline, 6 weeks | Parameter estimates from dACC region-of-interest |
| Change in Anterior Insula Activity in response to stress | Baseline, 6 weeks | Parameter estimates from bilateral anterior insula region-of-interest |
| Change in Amygdala Activity in response to threat | Baseline, 6 weeks | Parameter estimates from bilateral amygdala region-of-interest |
| Change in Ventral Striatum Activity in response to prosocial behavior | Baseline, 6 weeks | Parameter estimates from bilateral ventral striatum region-of-interest |
| Change in Septal Area Activity in response to prosocial behavior | Baseline, 6 weeks | Parameter estimates from septal area region-of-interest |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Memory | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | changes in recall ability (Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test) |
| Change in Beliefs about Aging | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks | changes in cognitive, affective, and social beliefs about aging (Expectations Regarding Aging survey) |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTNaomi Eisenberger, Ph.D.
Outcome results
None listed