Characterizing the Brain Circuitry and Neural Activity Mediating Frustration
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Summary
Background: Irritability can be defined as an unusually strong response to frustration; these responses may include severe temper outbursts and a constant grumpy mood. Irritability is a common symptom of many mental health disorders. Little is known about how the brain responds to frustration, and few treatments are available for this problem. Researchers want to know more about how the brain responds to frustration. Objective: To learn how the brain responds to frustration. Eligibility: Healthy adults aged 18 to 55 years. They must have been screened through studies 01-M-0254 or 17-M-0181. Design: Participants will have up to 3 study visits in 2 months. Each visit will last up to 4 hours. Visit 1: Participants will be screened. They will have a physical exam. They will complete questionnaires about how often and how easily they get angry or grumpy. They will be trained to use a device that measures hand grip. Visit 2: Participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. They will lie on a table that slides into a tube. Padding will hold their head still. Visit 3: Participants will undergo magnetoencephalography (MEG). A cone with detectors will be lowered over their head while they are seated. The MEG will measure the magnetic fields in the participant s brain both while they are resting and while they are doing the frustration task. For the task, they will hold a grip device in each hand. They will use the devices to pick 1 of 2 doors on a computer screen. The task has 3 parts. The participant s face will be filmed during this task.
Description
STUDY DESCRIPTION: Participants in this study will be healthy adults. This protocol uses a frustration induction task, magnetoencephalography (MEG), and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), coupled with physical and self-report assessment of frustration, to study brain mechanisms underlying frustration in adults. This study is part of a cross-species project; hence, hypotheses are based on neural mechanisms of frustration identified in mice. OBJECTIVES: To use a frustration induction task, MEG, and brain MRI, coupled with physical and self-report assessment of frustration, to measure how…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–55 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
-INCLUSION CRITERIA: This study will include adult healthy volunteers. * Age: 18-55 * Consent: can give consent * Speak and read English --The instruments have not been validated in other languages. * At the NIH site, previously screened through other NIH protocols such as protocol 01-M-0254, 17-M-0181, and 93-M-0170 and determined eligible as healthy volunteers. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study: -Any serious medical condition * History, physical exam, or laboratory testing including drug abuse…
Interventions
- OtherFrustration task
The experimental manipulation for this study is the frustration task. The frustration task is designed to elicit the emotional state of frustrative non-reward (FNR). During the task, participants are asked to use button press (left or right) to alternately press one of the two doors displayed on the monitor. The task has two non-frustration blocks (Block 1 and 2) and one frustration block (Block 3). During the non-frustration blocks, participants earn money for correct press on a fixed schedule. During the frustrative block, participants will not always receive reward for correct press.
Locations (2)
- National Institutes of Health Clinical CenterBethesda, Maryland
- Texas A&M UniversityCollege Station, Texas