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NCT Number: NCT05795179

Stress & Self-Control Costs

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.

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Key information

Conditions

Self-Control Behavior Social Behavior

Age range

18 year–70 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

NYU Langone Health

New York, 10016, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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.
  • Pregnancy is considered an exclusion criteria due to all stress and scanning procedures, thus pregnant participants will not be permitted to participate in the study.

Treatment and study plan

Cold-Pressor Task (CPT)

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.

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)

Behavioral

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

Modified Non-Stress CPT

Behavioral

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

Modified Non-Stress TSST

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)

Device

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

Primary outcomes

  1. Average Self-Control Cost

    Time frame: Day 1

    The self-control cost is the amount that a participant would be willing to pay to avoid temptation. This will be tested in a self-control task in which participants are shown an images of snack food and report how much they would be willing to avoid the different food items.

  2. Change in fMRI BOLD Signal During Self-Control Decisions

    Time frame: Day 1 (Up to 1.5 Hours)

    Functional MRI (fMRI) data will be analyzed to measure changes in blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC), Frontopolar Cortex (FPC) and Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) regions of interest as participants make self-control cost decisions during the self-control activity.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Candace Raio

CONTACT

[email protected]

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

NYU Langone Health

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Registry information

Official study title

Neural and Affective Mechanisms Underlying Prospective Self-control Costs

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2028
First posted
Apr 3, 2023
Registry last updated
Mar 11, 2026

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.

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