Investigating Neural Processing of Social Stimuli

Paranoia is a prominent symptom of psychosis that occurs in several other diagnoses, as well as the general population, and that is associated with significant distress and impairment. Previous research suggests that increased baseline activity of the amygdala and related neural circuits may serve as a mechanism for paranoid ideation. This exploratory study will use a paranoia induction procedure in healthy individuals who vary in pre-existing levels of paranoid ideation to test whether increases in self-reported paranoia are accompanied by increases in resting cerebral blood flow (CBF), decreased stimulus-driven neural activity in social processing networks, and increased behavioral perceptions of untrustworthiness.

Participants will be randomly assigned to participate in a paranoia induction procedure or a control condition and will then complete neuroimaging and behavioral assessments.

Inclusion criteria

• between the ages of 18 and 55

Exclusion criteria

• current psychiatric diagnosis
• current use of psychotropic medications
• history of head trauma with loss of consciousness for more than 15 minutes
• presence of neurological or neurodegenerative disorder
• sensory impairments that preclude assessment
• presence of intellectual disability
• contraindications for MRI (e.g., metallic implants or pregnancy)