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Molecular Basis of Loss Aversion

Molecular Basis of Loss Aversion

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06034158
Enrollment
60
Registered
2023-09-13
Start date
2023-09-18
Completion date
2024-09-01
Last updated
2023-09-26

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

Conditions

Healthy

Brief summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the roles of dopamine and norepinephrine in decision making related to loss aversion in the healthy population. The main question it aims to answer is whether temporarily boosting dopamine activity or temporarily suppressing norepinephrine activity has an impact on processing of potential gains and losses in financial decision making, social decision making, transaction decision making and moral decision making. Accordingly, participants will complete four decision-making tasks, namely investment task, driving task, trading task, and die task, after taking madopar, propranolol or placebo. Participants' psychological traits and psychiatric symptoms will be assessed once they are enrolled before the first-session day.

Interventions

DRUGsingle-dose madopar, single-dose propranolol, and single-dose placebo by order

Participants will take madopar, propranolol, and placebo (orange juice) each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

DRUGsingle-dose madopar, single-dose placebo, and single-dose propranolol by order

Participants will take madopar, placebo(orange juice), and propranolol each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

DRUGsingle-dose propranolol, single-dose madopar, and single-dose placebo by order

Participants will take propranolol, madopar, and placebo(orange juice) each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

DRUGsingle-dose propranolol, single-dose placebo, and single-dose madopar by order

Participants will take propranolol, placebo(orange juice), and madopar each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

DRUGsingle-dose placebo, single-dose propranolol, and single-dose madopar by order

Participants will take placebo(orange juice), propranolol, and madopar each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

DRUGsingle-dose placebo, single-dose madopar, and single-dose propranolol by order

Participants will take placebo(orange juice), madopar, and propranolol each once in three separate sessions. The interval between every two sessions will be at least 3 days.

Sponsors

Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
25 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. Age 25-40 years old (including boundary value). 2. Elementary school education or above, able to understand the research content. 3. Body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and electrocardiogram are all normal. Among them, the blood pressure range is 100-139/70-89 mmHg, and the heart rate range is 60-85 beats/min.

Exclusion criteria

1. Vulnerable groups, including people with mental illness, cognitive impairment, critically ill subjects, minors, pregnant women, illiterates, etc. 2. Family history of genetic diseases. 3. Major physical diseases, including cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, renal, endocrine, blood and other systemic diseases. 4. History of alcohol/drug dependence. 5. Lactating women. 6. The cardiopulmonary function test results are poor. 7. Have ever taken madopar or propranolol for medical use.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reported outcomes in die taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants report the outcome for each throw of the die.
Choices to invest or not in the investment taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to accept investment options that entail a 50/50 chance of winning some amount of money and losing some amount of money.
Response times to invest or not in the investment taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to accept investment options that entail a 50/50 chance of winning some amount of money and losing some amount of money.
Choices to turn or not in the driving taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to make turns during driving in order to sacrifice some number of person(s) to save some number of person(s) .
Response times to turn or not in the driving taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to make turns during driving in order to sacrifice some number of person(s) to save some number of person(s) .
Choices to buy or sell in the trading taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to buy or sell a product at certain prices.
Response times to buy or sell in the trading taskbetween 1-2 hours after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants decide whether or not to buy or sell a product at certain prices.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Affectsbefore and 1 hour after taking the drugs or the placeboParticipants' affects will be assessed using the Positive and Negative Affective Scale (PANAS).Scores can range from 10 to 50 for both the Positive and Negative Affect, with the lower scores representing lower levels of Positive/Negative Affect and higher scores representing higher levels of Positive/Negative Affect.

Countries

China

Outcome results

None listed

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