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Serotonin and Everyday Social Interaction

NCT02051569 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: EARLY_PHASE1 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 40

Last updated 2014-01-31

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Rationale: Poor social functioning may contribute to major depressive disorder (MDD). Poor serotonin function may also contribute to MDD. Recent research suggests that serotonin plays a role in regulating human social behaviour. Therefore it would be intriguing to investigate the role of serotonin in regulating the quality of everyday social interactions in a population at risk for MDD. Human social behaviour can be reliably assessed in everyday life using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA).

Objective: This study aims to investigate how an experimental increase in serotonin influences social functioning in healthy adults with a first-degree family member diagnosed with MDD. The primary goal is to investigate the role of serotonin in regulating everyday social behaviour, measured using EMA. This will be done using oral supplementation with tryptophan, the amino acid precursor of serotonin. Secondary goals are to determine how this experimental manipulation influences people's feelings as well as their perceptions of other's social behaviour following interpersonal events, and social cognitions at the end of the day. An exploratory goal is to investigate if these effects are moderated by genes thought to be involved in MDD.

The primary hypothesis to be tested is that tryptophan will reduce quarrelsome behaviour.

Conditions

  • Social Behaviour

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Tryptophan

Tryptophan and placebo are given in a crossover design, based on randomisation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Groningen

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Marije aan het Rot, Dr. · University of Groningen

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2012-08-31
Primary Completion
2014-01-31
Completion
2014-01-31

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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 NCT02051569 on ClinicalTrials.gov