Pain
Conditions
Keywords
Mesolimbic system, Dopamine circuits, Psychophysics
Brief summary
This work aims to study the neural correlates and determinants of pain dynamics related to changes in a noxious stimulus.
Interventions
DRUGMethylphenidate
0.35 mg/kg methylphenidate will be administered after baseline testing and 45 min-1 hr before post-intervention testing.
DRUGPlacebo
Placebo for methylphenidate
Sponsors
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Northwestern University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
\-
Exclusion criteria
* Pregnant * History of chronic pain * History of neurological diagnosis * History of psychiatric diagnosis
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Effect of methylphenidate on acute pain dynamics | 6 months | We will compare acute pain dynamics-i.e., the time series of pain visual analog scale ratings (0-100, where 0 = no pain and 100 = worst pain imaginable) obtained while delivering a changing noxious stimulus-during the methylphenidate condition to that of the placebo condition. |
| Nucleus accumbens activation with acute pain dynamics | 6 months | We will regress the time course of nucleus accumbens BOLD activity onto the latent time series obtained from our valence competition model. This will be supported by regressing the nucleus accumbens time course onto the pain VAS time course, allowing our findings to be compared to standard analyses in the literature. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed