Effects of Caffeine on Anxiety, Emotional Processing, Approach-avoidance Behavior, and Interoception...
Panic DisorderHealthyThe current study is a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized controlled study using a cross-over design, including participants with Panic disorder and healthy controls. The study's primary aim is to investigate the effects of caffeine (vs placebo) on self-reported anxiety and its impact on emotional reactivity and goal-directed behavior in individuals with Panic disorder (vs healthy controls). Emotional reactivity will be measured with self-reported emotions and skin conductance responses. Caffeine-induced effects on goal-directed behavior will be assessed using an approach-avoidance conflict paradigm and an effort-allocation task. The occurrence of panic attacks and panic-related symptoms will also be measured. Furthermore, the link between a genotype of ADORA2A (rs5751876 T/T) previously associated with caffeine-induced anxiety, and the anxiogenic effects of caffeine will also be explored. In addition, caffeine-induced changes in attention to interoceptive stimuli (bodily sensation such as pulse and respiration) and anxiety elicited by attention to interoceptive stimuli will be explored. A secondary aim is to examine the potential caffeine-induced effects and the impact of genetic variation in healthy participants (caffeine vs placebo).
Neural Functioning Underlying Anxiety and Its Treatment (The INSULA Study)
Generalized Anxiety DisorderPanic Disorder1 moreThis study will examine the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on brain function in people with anxiety disorders.
Integrated Mental Health Care and Vocational Rehabilitation to Individuals on Sick Leave Due to...
Generalized AnxietySocial Phobia2 moreThe purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of 1) a stepped mental health care intervention and 2) an integrated mental health care and vocational rehabilitation intervention for people on sick leave because of depression and anxiety in Denmark
Predicting Treatment Response to Exposure Therapy Using Carbon Dioxide
Generalized Anxiety DisorderSocial Anxiety Disorder2 moreAnxiety disorders affect over a quarter of the population, yet very little is known about the variables that predict treatment outcome. The planned study explores whether a patient's response to a physiological test involving inhalation of carbon dioxide predicts their response to exposure therapy.
Neural Effects of Cognitive-behaviour Therapy in Panic Disorder
Panic DisorderExposure-based cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders is an effective intervention, but the brain mechanisms driving recovery are largely unknown. In this experimental medicine study, it will be investigated to what degree CBT affects neural markers of anxiety at an early stage of treatment, to identify dynamic mechanistic changes which might be crucial in the process of recovery as opposed to those seen following full treatment completion. Patients with panic disorder will be recruited and randomly allocated to a group receiving 4 weekly sessions of cognitive-behaviour therapy versus a waiting group not receiving any interventions until after the experimental procedure.
Effect of Cognitive-behavior Therapy on Fear Responses to Body Symptoms in Patients With Panic Disorder...
Panic Disorder With AgoraphobiaPanic Disorder Without AgoraphobiaThe present study aims to investigate a potential mechanism of successful CBT for panic disorder, i.e., the reduction of excessive anxious apprehension and fear responses to panic-related body symptoms in the context of CBT treatment. In the present non-randomized interventional study, effects of cognitive behavior therapy on reported symptoms and fear responses to panic-related body symptoms are investigated. It is expected that symptom improvement during CBT is associated with a decrease in the activation of the brain's fear network to panic-related body symptoms.
Investigations of Amygdala Function Using Neurophysiological Recording and Stimulation
FearPTSD1 moreThis study aims to specifically examine the in vivo electrophysiology and effects of direct stimulation of the human amygdala during conditioned and evoked fear. Investigators will also examine amygdala electrophysiology and the effects of stimulation during tasks to examine the effects of reward on fear memory. This study will recruit subjects with a history of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who have undergone neurosurgical implantation with FDA-approved, NeuroPace RNS devices for treatment of seizures. These patients provide a unique cohort with (Responsive Neurostimulation) RNS devices capable of both recording and stimulating the amygdala during performance of fear-based, behavioral tasks.
The Role of Orexin in Human Panic Disorder
Panic DisorderThe purpose of this study is to provide some information (pilot data) about whether the study drug, suvorexant, (1) affects levels of orexin in people with panic disorder, and (2) is associated with decreased panic symptoms in response to a carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge.
Examining the Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation on Anxiety
Generalized Anxiety DisorderAgoraphobia4 moreThe studies proposed in this protocol aim to explore the anxiolytic properties of floating as it relates to the central and autonomic nervous system.
Changes of Cerebral Glucose Metabolism and After 12 Weeks of Escitalpram Treatment in Panic Disorder...
Panic DisorderPanic disorder is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and recently abnormal fear network is known to be implicated in the pathophysiology of panic disorder. The fear network involves many brain regions such as amygdala, hippocampus, periaqueductal gray (PAG), locus coeruleus, parahippocampal gyrus, frontal cortex, and thalamus. Escitalopram, a highly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is usually effective for panic dis order, but there is little information on how escitalopram affects the fear network. The specific aim of this study is to test the following hypotheses using 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) Patients with panic disorder will show abnormal activity of the fear network compared to healthy comparison subjects. Patients with panic disorder will show normalized activity of the fear network after 12-weeks of treatment with escitalopram. The changes of fear work after the treatment will be associated with psychological variables and neurohormones.