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Serotonergic System and Violent Video Games

NCT01644071 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 47

Last updated 2015-09-29

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Aggressive behavior (AB) is a major burden to society with severe socio-economic consequences. Genetic studies suggest a high heritability of AB; in particular, the low expressing allele of the MAOA gene (MAOA-L) has been associated with increased AB. Recent neural aggression models have suggested a dysfunctional emotion regulation circuit including amygdala, orbitofrontal, and anterior cingulate cortex. Dysregulated serotonergic (5-HT) projections from the anterior cingulate cortex to the amygdala have been suggested to promote aggressive behavior. This finding is well in line with the observation that the MAOA-L allele leads to a reduced expression of monoamine oxidase A and thus to an overflow of 5-HT in serotonergic cortico-amygdalar projections. However, due to methodological and ethical constraints, the neural substrates of AB are difficult to assess. A possible solution is the use of virtual violence which permits AB against virtual characters without direct consequences for any real person and can be easily applied in functional imaging experiments. There is evidence that virtual and real aggression share common neural substrates. AB in violent video games inhibits rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and amygdala in line with the suggested neurophysiological circuits underlying real-life AB.

Conditions

  • Healthy Volunteers

Interventions

DRUG

cipralex

one time 10 mg, tablet

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • RWTH Aachen University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
60 Years
Sex
MALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2012-02-29
Primary Completion
2014-02-28
Completion
2014-06-30

Countries

  • Germany

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT01644071 on ClinicalTrials.gov