Stress & Self-Control Costs

NCT ID: NCT05795179

Last Updated: 2025-04-15

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 300 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2024-10-01
• Study Completion Date: 2028-04-01

Brief Summary

Self-control failures are a universal challenge for healthy and clinical populations. Recent work suggests these failures may arise from excessive cognitive costs associated with exercising self-control, yet the mechanisms underlying these costs are unknown. To address this, the investigators will use a validated decision-making task that measures how much individuals will pay (from a study endowment) to restrict access to tempting rewards that may lead to self-control failures. The investigators will examine these costs to identify their cognitive, neural and affective mechanisms. First, the investigators will identify the cognitive and computational mechanism that gives rise to self-control costs. Second, the investigators will characterize the neural correlates of self-control costs and identify neural mediators and connectivity patterns stemming from these costs. Finally, the investigators will examine how different classes of stressors (physical, social, or lifetime stress) shape the behavioral and neural representations of self-control costs.

Conditions

Self-Control

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Physiological Stress

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to a physiological stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the physiological stress group, this task is the Cold-Pressor Task (CPT), a physiological stress task in which participants continuously submerge their hand and forearm in ice-water (0-4°C) for 3 minutes. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cold-Pressor Task (CPT)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

CPT is a physiological stress task in which participants continuously submerge their hand and forearm in ice-water (0-4°C) for 3 minutes.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Social Stress

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the social stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the social stress group, this task is the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a psychosocial stressor that requires participants perform a short speech and solve math problems in front of 2 evaluative judges. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The TSST is a psychosocial stressor that requires participants perform a short speech and solve math problems in front of 2 evaluative judges.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Physiological Non-Stress

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the physiological non-stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the physiological non-stress group, participants will continuously submerge their hand and forearm in warm water for 3 minutes. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Modified Non-Stress CPT

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The modified non-stress CPT involves participants continuously submerging their hand and forearm in warm water for 3 minutes.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Social Non-Stress

Healthy dieters will undergo a single-visit neuroimaging study where they will first complete demographic and self-report measures followed by a self-control decision task in an fMRI scanner. Prior to scanning, participants will be assigned to the social stress group and complete the corresponding stress task. For the social non-stress group, participants will be asked to prepare for a speech that they will practice alone to themselves and complete math problems alone on a piece of scrap paper. After the scan, participants will wait for 1 hour in an adjacent study room where they will play out one trial of the decision-making task completed in the scanner.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Modified Non-Stress TSST

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

For the modified non-stress TSST, participants are asked to prepare for a speech that they will practice alone to themselves and complete math problems alone on a piece of scrap paper.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Interventions

Cold-Pressor Task (CPT)

CPT is a physiological stress task in which participants continuously submerge their hand and forearm in ice-water (0-4°C) for 3 minutes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)

The TSST is a psychosocial stressor that requires participants perform a short speech and solve math problems in front of 2 evaluative judges.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Modified Non-Stress CPT

The modified non-stress CPT involves participants continuously submerging their hand and forearm in warm water for 3 minutes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Modified Non-Stress TSST

For the modified non-stress TSST, participants are asked to prepare for a speech that they will practice alone to themselves and complete math problems alone on a piece of scrap paper.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Participants will complete the self-control task in the fMRI scanner.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 18-70 years of age, able to speak, read, and write fluently in English
• be willing and able to follow study procedures and provide informed consent.
• Must additionally confirm they are on a diet to maintain/lose weight and are implementing/maintaining dietary changes.

Exclusion Criteria

• History of or medication for neurologic or psychiatric disease
• High-blood pressure or heart condition
• Diabetes, food allergies, metabolic disorders or history of eating disorder
• Use of corticosteroids or beta-blockers
• Metallic implants or devices contraindicating magnetic resonance imaging.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 70 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

NYU Langone Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Candace Raio

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

NYU Langone Health

Locations

NYU Langone Health

New York, New York, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Candace Raio

Role: CONTACT

candace.raio@nyulangone.org

Other Identifiers

22-01630

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id