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Uncovering the Acute Neurobiological Significance of Emerging Sexual Behaviors

NCT06602362 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 31

Last updated 2025-08-24

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine the acute effect of being choked during partnered sex on neurological measures. The study is designed to identify the effects being choked during partnered sex on the brain through the use of neural-injury blood biomarkers, functional, diffusion, and perfusion MRI, and ocular-motor function across 3 time points (baseline, post-choking, post-non-choking). The central hypothesis is that acute neuronal structural, physiological, and functional alterations will be amplified after an incidence of choking-involved sex. The neural-injury blood biomarkers neurofilament light (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), and Tau will be measured in plasma, with the hypothesis that having choking involved sex will result in a increased heightened response compared to baseline and post non-choking involved sex timepoints. An additional panel of inflammatory cytokines may be considered if/when brain injury biomarkers show changes. It is also hypothesized that engaging in choking-involved sex will be associated with changes in fMRI activation patterns. White matter microstructure will be measured by diffusion imaging metrics, with the hypothesis that engaging in choking-involved sex will significantly disrupt microstructure at a post-choking involved sex time point, compared to baseline, but not at the post non-choking involved sex timepoint. The study will also assess oculomotor function as measured by near-point-of-convergence (NPC) in response to engaging in choking involved sex. The hypothesis is that NPC performance will be significantly impaired at the post choking-involved sex timepoint in comparison to both baseline and non-choking involved sex timepoints.

Conditions

  • Sexual Behavior
  • Hypoxia, Brain

Interventions

OTHER

Partnered sex involving choking

When a subject submits a survey indicating that they engaged in partnered sex involving choking, they will be asked to come in for data collection within 24 hours of survey submission.

OTHER

Partnered sex not involving choking

When a subject submits a survey indicating that they engaged in partnered sex that did not involve any choking, they will be asked to come in for data collection within 24 hours of survey submission.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Indiana University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
30 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-10-03
Primary Completion
2025-05-01
Completion
2025-05-01

Countries

  • United States

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 NCT06602362 on ClinicalTrials.gov