Anhedonia clinical trials at UCLA

5 in progress, 3 open to eligible people

Showing trials for

  • Aging and Reward System Response to Inflammation and Anxiety Study

    open to eligible people ages 60-80

    The purpose of this study is to use an experimental inflammatory challenge to examine whether older adults with symptoms of anxiety experience loss of pleasure or loss of motivation when they are exposed to inflammation. Loss of pleasure or loss of motivation will be evaluated using self-report questionnaires, computer tasks, and during a brain scan.

    Los Angeles, California

  • Determining the Role of Social Reward Learning in Social Anhedonia

    open to eligible people ages 18-35

    This is a clinical trial study that aims to evaluate the specificity of the relationship between reduced sensitivity to social reward and social anhedonia at both behavioral and neural levels. Individuals who recently experienced their first-episode psychosis will be recruited. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to motivational interviewing or a time- and format-matched control probe. At pre- and post-probe, participants will perform two social reward learning tasks in the scanner. With this design feature, we will examine the relationship between sensitivity to social reward and reduced subjective experience of social pleasure at both the behavioral and neural levels.

    Los Angeles, California and other locations

  • Virtual Reality-Reward Training for Anhedonia

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of Virtual Reality-Reward Training (VR-RT) with an active control condition, Virtual Reality-Memory Training (VR-MT), on positive affect and other clinical symptoms. VR-Reward Training is a novel intervention aimed at enhancing savoring of positive experiences among individuals with depression and low positive affect through guided imaginal recounting following immersion in positive VR experiences. Target enrollment is 80 male and female participants with low positive affect, depression, and impaired functioning, who are at least 18 years old, who will be randomly assigned to 7 weeks of either Virtual Reality-Reward Training (VR-RT) or Virtual Reality-Memory Training (VR-MT). Participants will complete in-person VR sessions, laboratory assessments, self-report questionnaires as part of the study. The total length of participation is around 3 months.

    Los Angeles, California

  • Proof of Mechanism Study for the Treatment of Social Anhedonia in ASD

    Sorry, in progress, not accepting new patients

    This project will use the experimental medicine approach of a Phase IIa Proof of Mechanism 16-week, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of L-DOPA versus placebo administration in combination with a 16 week social skills training group in order to: 1) identify differences in social reward processes in adolescent and young adult ASD participants versus healthy controls as measured by fMRI activation in reward circuitry; 2) provide evidence of dopaminergic moderating effects on social reward components in ASD with greater pre- to post-treatment changes expected in the subjects randomized to L-DOPA versus placebo; 3) examine the hypothesis that baseline readouts of putative dopamine signaling (wanting activation responses) will predict the extent of fMRI reward-related activation changes pre- to post-treatment; and, 4) examine the proposed relationship between pre- to post- L-DOPA fMRI reward changes and changes in individual self-report ratings of social wanting and ratings of videotaped positive affect in a structured interaction with an examiner. The study will enroll 56 participants with DSM-5 ASD between the ages of 13-30 years of age and 18 healthy control participants without histories of psychopathology for baseline comparisons.

    Los Angeles, California

  • Sleep and Healthy Aging Research on Depression for Younger Women

    Sorry, in progress, not accepting new patients

    Compelling evidence indicates inflammation plays a role in depression, but potential mechanisms linking inflammation to depression, such as dysregulated reward processing, are poorly understood. This study comprehensively evaluates effects of inflammation on reward across dimensions (e.g., anticipating versus receiving a reward) and types (e.g., money vs. smiling faces) in younger and older women. Characterizing how inflammation shapes the dynamic and multidimensional reward system, and how this may differ by age, may give insight into risk factors for depression and help identify critical points for intervention.

    Los Angeles, California

Our lead scientists for Anhedonia research studies include .

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