NCT01701141

Depression and Dopamine Transporter Function: A Positron Emission Tomography Study Using C-11 Altropane

Completed Last updated 18 May 2018

What this trial tests

trial in Major Depressive Disorder in 150 participants. Completed in 1 July 2014.

Timeline

1 January 2012

Primary endpoint
1 July 2014

1 July 2014

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Mclean Hospital
Status	Completed
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	150
Start date	1 January 2012
Primary completion	1 July 2014
Estimated completion	1 July 2014
Sites	2 locations across United States

Conditions studied

• Major Depressive Disorder — all drugs for Major Depressive Disorder →
• Anhedonia — all drugs for Anhedonia →

Sponsor

Mclean Hospital

Who can join

Adults 18 to 45, any sex, with Major Depressive Disorder or Anhedonia. Healthy volunteers can join.

What's being measured

Primary outcomes are the specific endpoints the trial is designed to prove or disprove.

• 11C-Altropane Binding
  Time frame: 1 hour long PET scan during session 2
  11C-altropane binding is recording during the positron emission tomography (PET) scan and is used to measure dopamine transporter levels.
• Behavioral Performance in Probabilistic Reward Task
  Time frame: 20 minute task administered during session 2
  The probabilistic reward task is designed to measure sensitivity to reward and reward learning.
• Brain Activity during Instrumental Learning Task
  Time frame: 30 minute long fMRI scan during session 3
  Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data are acquired while participants perform the instrumental learning task. fMRI data allows us to measure aspects of brain activity.
• Behavioral Performance in Instrumental Learning Task
  Time frame: 30 minute task administered during session 3
  The instrumental learning task is designed to measure participant learning from reward and punishment.
• Behavioral Performance in the Social Reinforcement Learning Task
  Time frame: 15 minute task administered during session 3
  The social reinforcement learning task is designed to investigate whether learning deficits in MDD are specific to learning from monetary incentives or whether the learning deficits are more global and are affected when learning from social rewards and punishments.

Sponsor's own description

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often characterized by anhedonia and impaired ability to modulate behavior as a function of rewards. However, the neurobiology of anhedonia and reduced reward responsiveness remains largely unknown. Because dopamine (DA) plays a critical role in goal-directed behavior and reinforcement learning, DA dysregulation might play an important role. In fact, several lines of evidence suggest that down-regulation of DA transmission might characterize depression vulnerability and the emergence of depressive symptoms. The current study seeks to elucidate the role of DA dysfunction in MDD. We hypothesize that MDD subjects will show reduced DAT binding potential, reduced reward learning in the probabilistic reward task, and abnormal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activation in dorsal and ventral striatal regions during an instrumental learning task.

This study will include three sessions.

The first will take place at Massachusetts General Hospital or at McLean Hospital's Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research. The aims of this session will be to (a) explain the study; (b) collect written informed consent, and (c) assess the subject's eligibility.

Following this, another session (either second or third in order) will take place at the MGH PET Imaging Laboratory. Participants will complete a PET scan and a probabilistic reward task designed to measure reward learning and sensitivity to reward. The radioactive tracer utilized is 11C-altropane.

Another session (either second or third in order) will take place at the McLean Hospital Neuroimaging Center. Participants will complete an instrumental learning task while in the fMRI, followed by a social reinforcement learning task and an implicit learning serial reaction time task upon completion of the scan. In the instrumental learning task, participants have the opportunity to earn money but need to learn, by trial and error, stimulus-outcome associations. The social reinforcement learning task is designed to investigate whether learning deficits in MDD are specific to learning from monetary incentives or whether the learning deficits are more global and are affected when learning from social rewards and punishments. Participants will also complete an implicit learning serial reaction time task, designed to exclude the possibility of global learning deficits in MDD.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Assessment of Striatal Dopamine Transporter Binding in Individuals With Major Depressive Disorder: In Vivo Positron Emission Tomography and Postmortem Evidence.
   Pizzagalli DA, Berretta S, Wooten D, Goer F, et al · · 2019 · cited 81× · PMID 31042280 · DOI 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0801