Overgeneralization of Conditioned Fear as a Pathogenic Marker of Anorexia Nervosa

Completed

Conditions studied: Anorexia, Generalized Anxiety

In brief

Anorexia nervosa is a chronic mental health condition characterized by maladaptive food consumption (i.e., hypophagia) and distorted body image. There is substantial evidence of a phenotypic overlap between anorexia nervosa and anxiety disorders, as well as data suggesting the two share a common genetic pathway. Despite these findings, little research has examined fear conditioning among individuals with anorexia nervosa, and no research has examined whether individuals with anorexia nervosa have a propensity to overgeneralize conditioned fear stimuli, one of the more robust fear-conditioning markers of anxiety disorders. The current study assesses generalization of conditioned fear with fear-potentiated startle: the cross-species enhancement of the startle reflex when an organism is in a state of fear. Animal data, as well as an emerging literature in humans, tightly links fear-potentiated startle to the amygdala-based fear circuit. Thus, evidence of overgeneralized fear-potentiated startle in anorexia nervosa would link this eating disorder to hypersensitivity of the fear circuit and could inform the development of novel pharmacologic and psychological treatments for anorexia nervosa based on treatment models used in the anxiety disorders literature.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02148042

Run by

University of Minnesota

People needed

26

Starts

2014-04-01

Expected to finish

2016-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2019-07-12

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Adults (age≥18)
• a. Anorexics
• Meet criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) anorexia nervosa
• b. Controls
• age matched
• sex-matched

You may not qualify if…

• Criteria are met for a current or past Axis I disorder.
• Inability to read English
• Pregnancy/lactation
• Acute suicidality
• Medical instability as determined by a medical history visit and serum electrolyte testing,
• Medical conditions that may place the participant at risk (e.g., cardiovascular condition)
• Current use of medication that alter central nervous system function

Where it is running

• University of Minnesota — Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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