Opioids and Social Support Enhanced Extinction Effects

NCT ID: NCT04166071

Last Updated: 2025-10-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Clinical Phase: EARLY_PHASE1
• Total Enrollment: 60 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-12-13
• Study Completion Date: 2026-09-30

Brief Summary

University of California, Los Angeles researchers will recruit healthy participants (age 18-35) to participate in a study examining whether the administration of naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, eliminates the ability of social support figure reminders to enhance fear extinction--a process during which a threatening cue is learned to not predict a negative or threatening outcome (i.e., electric shock) by being repeatedly presented in the absence of that outcome.

After undergoing an email screening, a telephone screening, an in lab screening, and a health screening, 60 participants will be enrolled in the study. During the experiment, 30 participants will be administered naltrexone and 30 participants will be administered placebo (both participants and experimenters will be blind to condition) before undergoing a fear extinction procedure in which threatening cues--cues that predict electric shock--will be paired with either an image of a social support figure (provided by participants) or a second threatening cue. These pairings will be presented repeatedly in the absence of shock in order for fear extinction to occur. Participants will return for a follow-up test to determine if fear extinction was successful.

Conditions

Fear

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Naltrexone

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Naltrexone

Intervention Type: DRUG

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to take one dose of naltrexone (50mg, capsule form) during the experimental session

Placebo

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type: DRUG

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to take a placebo capsule during the experimental session

Interventions

Naltrexone

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to take one dose of naltrexone (50mg, capsule form) during the experimental session

Intervention Type: DRUG

Placebo

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to take a placebo capsule during the experimental session

Intervention Type: DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• healthy adults 18 and 35
• fluent in English
• no history of mental illness (including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other mental health related disorder diagnosed by a mental health professional)

Exclusion Criteria

• pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the experiment period
• presence of chronic mental illness (as determined by the report of a past diagnosis of mental illness by a physician or psychologist and/or the prescription of medication related to mental health disorder; including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other diagnosed psychological disorder)
• chronic physical illness (as determined by past diagnosis and/or treatment by a physician)
• history of liver disease or abnormal liver function
• current and regular use of prescription medications related to mental health disorders or liver function
• previous history of fainting during blood draws
• difficulty or discomfort swallowing pills
• history of substance abuse or addiction (especially alcohol or opiate abuse)

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 35 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, Los Angeles

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Naomi Eisenberger

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Naomi Eisenberger, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Los Angeles

Locations

UCLA Department of Psychology, 5514 Pritzker Hall

Los Angeles, California, United States

UCLA

Los Angeles, California, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

SSO

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id