Cognitive Decline in Older Adults, Post Menopausal Women, PTSD and Trauma-related Symptoms
Conditions
Brief summary
The goal of current study is to better understand how fear is processed in the brain and how these processes are influenced by cognition and hormones. This research will focus specifically on postmenopausal female adults, because age-related changes in cognition and declining estrogen levels may contribute to anxiety symptoms and PTSD risk later in life.
Interventions
DRUGestradiol
oral 2mg tablet of estradiol
Sponsors
University of Arizona
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* post-menopausal * normal or corrected-to-normal vision * English speaking * stable medication use (no changes in the past three months)
Exclusion criteria
* use of hormone therapy containing synthetic estrogen * MRI contraindications (e.g., irremovable ferrous metal in body, claustrophobia) * history of neurological disorder (including mild cognitive impairment) or moderate to severe traumatic brain injury * use of antipsychotic, opiate, or mood stabilizer (i.e., lithium) medication * history of blood clots/deep vein thrombosis, prior stroke or TIA, uncontrolled hypertension * history of migraine with aura * severe liver disease * history of breast, endometrial, or ovarian cancer * smoking \>10 cigarettes/day
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neural Response to Fear Conditioning Task | single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug | Estrogen has been shown to modulate the function of brain regions involved in fear processing, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. During fMRI, participants will complete a fear conditioning and generalization task to measure brain activity. They will view different neutral images of geometric shapes which may or may not predict the imminent receipt of an electric shock to the ankle. Across voxels of the brain, activation estimates (BOLD response) will be extracted for CS+ (conditioned threat) vs. CS- (conditioned safety) cues, and linear activation patterns across ambiguous generalization stimuli (i.e., GSs; CS+ \> GS1 \> GS2 \> GS3 \> CS-). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skin Conductance Response | single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug | Sweat glands activate under stress, increasing the electrical conductance of the skin. Participants will have electrodes attached on their palm to measure changes in sympathetic nervous system activity, providing an objective, physiological measure of anticipatory anxiety. |
| Subjective Fear and Risk Ratings | single visit, approximately 4 hours after taking study drug | Self-report can be used to ascertain subjective fear and explicit knowledge of threat contingencies. Participants will be asked to rate of perceived risk of each displayed stimulus from 1 (no risk) to 3 (high risk), contingency learning, and aversiveness of the stimulation (1-5) during task completion in the scanner and after. |
Contacts
CONTACTNancy Huynh
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAshley Huggins
University of Arizona
Outcome results
None listed