The Effects of D-cycloserine on Stimulus Generalization of Conditioned Fear Healthy Controls.

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2015-10-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

PROJECT SUMMARY:

PTSD is a debilitating psychiatric condition precipitated by exposure to extreme, or life threatening, trauma with an estimated lifetime prevalence between 8% and 9% in U.S. adults. One core symptom of PTSD is intense psychological distress in the presence of stimuli that "resemble" one or more aspects of the trauma experience (DSM-IV). This phenomenon referred to as stimulus generalization has received surprisingly little empirical testing in the context of clinical anxiety in general, and PTSD more specifically. The current proposal represents the first effort to study the neurobiology and pharmacology of this PTSD-relevant learning phenomenon across those with and without PTSD. The objective of this particular proposal is to apply fMRI and pharmacologic methods to: 1) identify brain mechanisms associated with generalization of conditioned fear and 2) examine the pharmacologic modifiability of levels of generalization using a partial agonist at the NMDA receptor complex (D-cycloserine) shown to increase discrimination of CS+ (danger cue) and CS- (safety cue) in animal studies.

• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Minnesota; University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
• Treatments: Cycloserine

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy adults between the ages of 18-55.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Current or past Axis I psychiatric diagnosis as determined by self report

2. Current substance dependence or meet criteria for the six month period preceding testing.

3. Participants will be excluded if they have current or past medical illnesses, which place the participant at risk or confound the results of the study including:

A) Past history of hypersensitivity to Seromycin B) Current or past epileptic disorders C) Current depression D) Current anxiety disorders E) Current or past psychotic disorders F) Current or past renal disease G) Excessive or concurrent use of alcohol

a) Subjects who are unable to abstain from alcohol for 12 hours prior to testing and 2 days following testing will be excluded

4. Current use of psychoactive medications or medications that alter central-nervous-system function

5. Females who are pregnant or currently breast-feeding

6. Any metallic implants or objects above the knee, tattoos about the knee, or oral braces.