Determining the Role of Social Reward Learning in Social Anhedonia

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Psychosis

In brief

This is a clinical trial study that aims to evaluate the specificity of the relationship between reduced sensitivity to social reward and social anhedonia at both behavioral and neural levels. Individuals who recently experienced their first-episode psychosis will be recruited. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to motivational interviewing or a time- and format-matched control probe. At pre- and post-probe, participants will perform two social reward learning tasks in the scanner. With this design feature, we will examine the relationship between sensitivity to social reward and reduced subjective experience of social pleasure at both the behavioral and neural levels.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT05617898

Run by

University of Alabama at Birmingham

People needed

152

Starts

2023-06-14

Expected to finish

2027-11-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-27

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 35. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Age 18-35 years
• A first episode of a psychotic illness that began within the past three years
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective disorder
• Taking 2nd generation antipsychotic medications
• Estimated premorbid IQ not less than 70 as assessed with the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading
• Appropriate for scanning (i.e., no pacemaker or metal implants) and expressed willingness to participate in scanning
• Sufficient fluency in English to comprehend testing procedures
• Corrected vision of at least 20/30

You may not qualify if…

• No evidence that substance use makes the diagnosis ambiguous (rule out substance-induced psychosis)
• No evidence of moderate or severe alcohol or substance use disorder in the past 3 months
• No clinically significant disease based on medical history (e.g., epilepsy) or significant head injury
• For females: no current pregnancy
• No sedatives or anxiolytics on the day of assessment
• No medication change 3 weeks prior to enrollment

Where it is running

• University of Alabama at Birmingham — Birmingham, Alabama, United States (enrolling)
• University of California Los Angeles — Los Angeles, California, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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