Completed
NCT Number: NCT02463981
Anterior Insula Regulation and Pain Empathy
The aim is to test whether rtfMRI-based neurofeedback training on anterior insula impacts pain empathy.
Completed
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Notify MeKey information
Conditions
Age range
18 year–30 year
Sex eligibility
All sexes
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Not applicable
About this study
In the present study, investigators plan to use the real-time fMRI neurofeedback to train healthy subjects to learn volitional control over their own anterior insula (AI) activity. Then the effect of AI regulation will assessed by examining subjects' empathic responses and functional connectivity changes. Subjects were separated into two groups randomly. While the experimental group received specific neurofeedback from their own AI, the control group received sham NF from an unspecific region.
Who can participate
Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes
Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.
Inclusion criteria
- Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders
Exclusion criteria
- history of head injury;
- claustrophobia;
- pregnancy;
- medical or psychiatric illness.
Treatment and study plan
Primary outcomes
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Neural Activity of Anterior Insula During Neorofeedback Training
Time frame: three days.
Neural activity was analyzed using standard fMRI analysis procedure that examine neural activity during training of anterior insula regulation. The measures include BOLD signal analysis (reflecting neural activity strengths) as well as functional connectivity analysis (that examine the interaction between different brain regions).
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Pain Empathy Rating Scores
Time frame: three days.
Subjects were required to rate their empathic feeling towards painful pictures on a Likert Scale ranging from 1-9 (1 = not at all and 9 = very painful). The effects of training on the empathy for pain were analyzed comparing the feedback group with the controls group. For each subject differences were calculated between pictures that were preceded by a training compared to a no-training block. Within the context of the present design we expected that training-induced increases in anterior insula activity should lead to higher pain empathy ratings in the training group as compared to the control group.
Sponsors and collaborators
Lead sponsor
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Other
Registry information
Official study title
Voluntary Anterior Insula Regulation Impacts Pain Empathy and Functional Connectivity: a Real-time fMRI Study
Important dates
- Study start
- 2015
- Primary completion
- 2015
- Study completion
- 2015
- First posted
- Jun 8, 2015
- Registry last updated
- Feb 9, 2022
OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.
View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.