Trial Outcomes & Findings for Stimulating the Social Brain (NCT NCT03374631)

NCT ID: NCT03374631

Last Updated: 2023-03-22

Results Overview

Level of paranoid ideation will be assessed with the self-report Paranoia Scale (PS; Fenigstein \& Vanable, 1992) both before and after tDCS to assess changes related to tDCS. The PS is a self-report measure designed to assess sub-clinical paranoid thought. Scores range from 20-100 with higher scores indicating higher levels of paranoia. The amount of pre-post change (i.e. PS score assessed before stimulation minus score after stimulation) is the primary value of interest and will be compared between active and sham stimulation. Improvements in paranoia will be indicated by positive values.

Recruitment status

COMPLETED

Study phase

NA

Target enrollment

40 participants

Primary outcome timeframe

Paranoid ideation will be assessed 30 minutes after completion of the active/sham stimulation

Results posted on

2023-03-22

Participant Flow

Participant milestones

Participant milestones
Measure
Active Anodal tDCS, Then Sham tDCS
Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing active anodal tDCS: active anodal tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation sham tDCS: sham tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation
Sham tDCS, Then Active Anodal tDCS
Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing. active anodal tDCS: active anodal tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation sham tDCS: sham tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation
First Intervention (20 Minutes)
STARTED
20
20
First Intervention (20 Minutes)
COMPLETED
20
20
First Intervention (20 Minutes)
NOT COMPLETED
0
0
Washout (1 Week)
STARTED
20
20
Washout (1 Week)
COMPLETED
20
20
Washout (1 Week)
NOT COMPLETED
0
0
Second Intervention (20 Minutes)
STARTED
20
20
Second Intervention (20 Minutes)
COMPLETED
20
20
Second Intervention (20 Minutes)
NOT COMPLETED
0
0

Reasons for withdrawal

Withdrawal data not reported

Baseline Characteristics

Stimulating the Social Brain

Baseline characteristics by cohort

Baseline characteristics by cohort
Measure
Active Anodal tDCS, Then Sham tDCS
n=20 Participants
Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing active anodal tDCS: active anodal tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation sham tDCS: sham tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation
Sham tDCS, Then Active Anodal tDCS
n=20 Participants
Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing; one week later, active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing. active anodal tDCS: active anodal tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation sham tDCS: sham tDCS with behavioral tasks and self-report measures to assess paranoid ideation
Total
n=40 Participants
Total of all reporting groups
Age, Continuous
20.7 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.30 • n=5 Participants
19.6 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.98 • n=7 Participants
20.15 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 2.19 • n=5 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
12 Participants
n=5 Participants
13 Participants
n=7 Participants
25 Participants
n=5 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
8 Participants
n=5 Participants
7 Participants
n=7 Participants
15 Participants
n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
5 Participants
n=5 Participants
6 Participants
n=7 Participants
11 Participants
n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
15 Participants
n=5 Participants
14 Participants
n=7 Participants
29 Participants
n=5 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
11 Participants
n=5 Participants
10 Participants
n=7 Participants
21 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
1 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
1 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
6 Participants
n=5 Participants
7 Participants
n=7 Participants
13 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
2 Participants
n=5 Participants
3 Participants
n=7 Participants
5 Participants
n=5 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
20 participants
n=5 Participants
20 participants
n=7 Participants
40 participants
n=5 Participants

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Paranoid ideation will be assessed 30 minutes after completion of the active/sham stimulation

Level of paranoid ideation will be assessed with the self-report Paranoia Scale (PS; Fenigstein \& Vanable, 1992) both before and after tDCS to assess changes related to tDCS. The PS is a self-report measure designed to assess sub-clinical paranoid thought. Scores range from 20-100 with higher scores indicating higher levels of paranoia. The amount of pre-post change (i.e. PS score assessed before stimulation minus score after stimulation) is the primary value of interest and will be compared between active and sham stimulation. Improvements in paranoia will be indicated by positive values.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure
Active Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Sham Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Change in General Paranoid Ideation for Active vs. Sham Simulation
1.60 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 3.11
.73 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 3.80

PRIMARY outcome

Timeframe: Paranoid ideation will be assessed 30 minutes after completion of the active/sham stimulation

Level of paranoid ideation will be assessed with the persecution subscale of the State Social Paranoia Scale (SSPS: Freeman et al., 2007) both before and after tDCS to assess changes related to tDCS. The SSPS is a psychometrically sound 20-item self- report measure assessing current levels of paranoid, positive, and neutral thinking about others. Ten items comprise the persecution subscale, and scores on this subscale range from 10-50 with higher scores indicating greater paranoia. The amount of pre-post change (i.e.SSPS score before stimulation minus SSPS score after stimulation) will be compared between active and sham stimulation. Positive values indicate reductions in paranoia after stimulation.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure
Active Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Sham Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Change in Change in Social Paranoia for Active vs. Sham Simulation
.75 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 2.52
.93 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 2.34

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: assessed 30 minutes after completion of the active/sham stimulation

Participants will complete the Trustworthiness Task (Adolphs, Tranel, \& Damasio, 1998), which asks individuals to view 42 images of others and rate their level of trustworthiness on a scale from -3 to 3. Scores range from -126 to 126. Higher scores indicate greater perceptions of trustworthiness. Mean ratings following each stimulation type (active vs. sham) are calculated.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure
Active Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Sham Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Trustworthiness Task Score for Active vs. Sham Stimulation
-.14 score on a scale
Standard Deviation .64
-.14 score on a scale
Standard Deviation .60

SECONDARY outcome

Timeframe: assessed 30 minutes after completion of the active/sham stimulation

The Emotion Recognition 40 (ER-40; Kohler, Turner, Bilker, Brinsinger, Siegel, Kanes... Gur, 2003) is a standardized, computer administered measure of facial affect recognition ability. It includes 40 color photographs of faces expressing 4 basic emotions (i.e. happiness, sadness, anger or fear) and neutral expressions. Participants view one face at a time and are asked to choose the correct emotion for each face. Scores range from 0-40 with higher scores indicating better accuracy. Mean performance following each stimulation type (active vs. sham) are calculated.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures
Measure
Active Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Active anodal tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Sham Stimulation
n=40 Participants
20 minutes of Sham tDCS followed by behavioral testing
Penn Emotion Recognition Test for Active vs. Sham Stimulation
35.05 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 2.39
35.33 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 2.31

Adverse Events

Active Anodal tDCS

Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 0 deaths

Sham tDCS

Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 0 deaths

Serious adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Other adverse events

Adverse event data not reported

Additional Information

Dr. Amy Pinkham

The University of Texas at Dallas

Phone: (972) 883-4462

Results disclosure agreements

  • Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
  • Publication restrictions are in place