The Impact of Norepinephrine on the Fidelity of Neural Representations

The Impact of Norepinephrine on the Fidelity of Neural Representations - Norepinephrine and neural representation

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

NL-OMON

Registry ID

NL-OMON38650

Enrollment

Registered

2013-04-03

Start date

2013-05-28

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2024-04-29

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

Conditions

scientific investigation of healthy subjects healthy

Interventions

None listed

Eligibility

Age

18 Years to 99 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Healthy adult subjects with no history of neurological disorder/disease and no counter-indications to 3 Tesla MRI or to atomoxetine, and no personal relationship with the researchers will be included in this study. All participants will be right-handed native Dutch speakers with normal vision or contact lenses.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Potential participants will be prescreened for contra-indications for 3 Tesla fMRI and atomoxetine, which include metal implants, heart arrhythmia, claustrophobia, glaucoma, hypertension and use of anti-depressants or psychotropic medication and possible pregnancy (in adult females). They will additionally be prescreened for head trauma, premature birth, learning disabilities, and history of neurological or psychiatric illness. Finally, left-handed individuals will be excluded from the study because some left-handers have substantially different brain organization relative to right-handers.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
fMRI and Pupilometry Data acquisition Functional neuroimaging will be performed at the 3T fMRI scanner located in the Radiology department of the LUMC. BOLD activity will be measured using standard gradient-echo echoplanar imaging (EPI) parameters. Simultaneously, pupil diameter will be measured using an EyeLink 1000 fMRI compatible eye tracker. Saliva Samples We will collect saliva using Salivette sampling devices in order to measure the secretion of salivary alpha-amylase, a valid biomarker for central noradrenergic activity and NE release (reviewed in Segal & Cahill, 2009). Saliva will be collected four times in total: At baseline (2 minute before taking atomoxetine); after completing the affirmation of beliefs questionnaire (95 minutes after taking atomoxetine); after coming out of the scanner (156 minutes after drug administration); and after subjects complete all tasks (210 minutes after drug administration). Saliva samples will be stored at -20 °C after completion of the session until biochemical analysis takes place. Questionnaires The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (Spielberger, Goruch, Lushene, Vagg & Jacobs, 1983) is a standard anxiety questionnaire which measures trait anxiety, a correlate of baseline NE activity (Tanaka, Yoshida, Emoto & Ishii, 2000). The affirmation of beliefs questionnaire is a brief questionnaire previously shown to be sensitive to violations of expectation (e.g. Proulx & Heine, 2008), which in turn is thought to be a factor that influences NE release (e.g. Yu & Dayan, 2005). The subject will read a set of short descriptions of non-violent crimes (e.g. damaging a parked car in a small collision and leaving the scene without taking responsibility), and minor heroic acts (e.g. returning found wallet). There will be ten descriptions in total (five crimes and five heroic acts) and the subject will be asked to select the monetary value for the ticket (in the case of the crime) or reward (in the case o	—

Measure

Time frame

fMRI and Pupilometry Data acquisition Functional neuroimaging will be performed at the 3T fMRI scanner located in the Radiology department of the LUMC. BOLD activity will be measured using standard gradient-echo echoplanar imaging (EPI) parameters. Simultaneously, pupil diameter will be measured using an EyeLink 1000 fMRI compatible eye tracker. Saliva Samples We will collect saliva using Salivette sampling devices in order to measure the secretion of salivary alpha-amylase, a valid biomarker for central noradrenergic activity and NE release (reviewed in Segal & Cahill, 2009). Saliva will be collected four times in total: At baseline (2 minute before taking atomoxetine); after completing the affirmation of beliefs questionnaire (95 minutes after taking atomoxetine); after coming out of the scanner (156 minutes after drug administration); and after subjects complete all tasks (210 minutes after drug administration). Saliva samples will be stored at -20 °C after completion of the session until biochemical analysis takes place. Questionnaires The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (Spielberger, Goruch, Lushene, Vagg & Jacobs, 1983) is a standard anxiety questionnaire which measures trait anxiety, a correlate of baseline NE activity (Tanaka, Yoshida, Emoto & Ishii, 2000). The affirmation of beliefs questionnaire is a brief questionnaire previously shown to be sensitive to violations of expectation (e.g. Proulx & Heine, 2008), which in turn is thought to be a factor that influences NE release (e.g. Yu & Dayan, 2005). The subject will read a set of short descriptions of non-violent crimes (e.g. damaging a parked car in a small collision and leaving the scene without taking responsibility), and minor heroic acts (e.g. returning found wallet). There will be ten descriptions in total (five crimes and five heroic acts) and the subject will be asked to select the monetary value for the ticket (in the case of the crime) or reward (in the case o

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
not applicable.	—

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results