Examining the Impact of Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (tFUS) on Reward Neural Circuitry

NCT ID: NCT05875181

Last Updated: 2024-12-13

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

WITHDRAWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-06-19

Study Completion Date

2024-12-31

Brief Summary

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The investigators aim to examine the immediate effect of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) on brain activity and emotions in healthy adults as a first stage toward understanding the predisposing brain mechanisms of underlying substance use disorders.

Detailed Description

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In a small pilot study the investigators propose to demonstrate feasibility of using tFUS to target the ventral striatum (VS) in humans by examining VS target engagement by tFUS in healthy human volunteers using a reward processing task that reliably activates the VS.

Conditions

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Impulsive Behavior

Keywords

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transcranial focused ultrasound Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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VS tFUS/Sham tFUS

VS tFUS (tFUS applied to the ventral striatum) Sham tFUS (go through the motions of applying tFUS to the VS)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

tFUS

Intervention Type DEVICE

tFUS is a brief stimulation of a part of the brain called the ventral striatum with low-intensity sound waves that pass through the scalp and skull safely.

Sham tFUS

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham tFUS goes through the motions of applying tFUS to the brain. Participants will know that one session will be a sham, but they will be blinded to which session is the sham

Sham tFUS/VS tFUS

VS tFUS (tFUS applied to the ventral striatum) Sham tFUS (go through the motions of applying tFUS to the VS)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

tFUS

Intervention Type DEVICE

tFUS is a brief stimulation of a part of the brain called the ventral striatum with low-intensity sound waves that pass through the scalp and skull safely.

Sham tFUS

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham tFUS goes through the motions of applying tFUS to the brain. Participants will know that one session will be a sham, but they will be blinded to which session is the sham

Interventions

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tFUS

tFUS is a brief stimulation of a part of the brain called the ventral striatum with low-intensity sound waves that pass through the scalp and skull safely.

Intervention Type DEVICE

Sham tFUS

Sham tFUS goes through the motions of applying tFUS to the brain. Participants will know that one session will be a sham, but they will be blinded to which session is the sham

Intervention Type DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* 18-35 years of age
* No psychiatric history

Exclusion Criteria

* Not between 18-35 years of age
* Has psychiatric history
* History of head injury, neurological, pervasive developmental disorder (e.g. autism), systemic medical disease and treatment (medical records, participant report)
* Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score (cognitive state) \<24
* Premorbid North American Adult Reading Test (NAART) intelligent quotient (IQ) estimate\<85
* Visual disturbance: \<20/40 Snellen visual acuity
* Left/mixed handedness (Annett criteria)
* History of alcohol/substance use disorder (SUD) (all substances, including nicotine), and/or illicit substance use (except cannabis) over the last 6 months (Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders , 5th Edition (DSM-5) (SCID-5)). Urine tests on scan days will exclude current illicit substance use (except cannabis). Salivary alcohol tests on scan days will exclude intoxicated individuals
* Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exclusion: metallic objects, e.g., surgical implants; claustrophobia; positive pregnancy test for females or self-report pregnancy
* Unable to understand English
* Individuals with a positive pregnancy test will be excluded from the study and not undergo a computerized tomography (CT) scan or MRI scan
* Present or history of seizure disorder
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

35 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab)

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Mary Phillips, MD MD (Cantab)

Professor

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Mary Phillips, MD, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Khaled Moussawi, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Locations

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University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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STUDY23020148

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id