Effect of Hydrocortisone on the Brain
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00055003. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Effects of Hydrocortisone Infusion on Processing of Facially Expressed Emotion During Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The purpose of this study is to use brain imaging technology to examine the effect of the hormone hydrocortisone on the brain's response to various facial expressions. Glucocorticoids can influence emotional behavior and cognition; when given long-term, the hormones may lead to mania or depression. One way glucocorticoids may influence emotional behavior is by affecting the activity of certain parts of the brain that participate in emotional processing. Brain imaging studies indicate that the amygdala, ventral medial prefrontal, and other prefrontal cortical areas of the brain are activated during tasks that require processing of emotional stimuli. These brain structures contain dense concentrations of glucocorticoid receptors. This study will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brain activity of participants as they view faces that express different emotions. Participants will perform this task under a dose of either the glucocorticoid hydrocortisone or placebo (an inactive solution). Participants in this study will be screened with a medical history, physical examination, blood tests, and an interview about their mood, degree of nervousness, and behavior. On Visit 1, participants will undergo screening and neuropsychological testing. For 3 days prior to Visit 2, participants will collect their saliva. During Visit 2, participants will undergo MRI scans of the brain after infusion with either a high or low dose of hydrocortisone or placebo. Participants will also undergo functional MRI (fMRI). Blood samples will be collected every 15 minutes during the scan. Following the MRI, participants will take attention and memory tests. ...
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00055003
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- Not listed
- Enrollment
- 80 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
Not listed
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 50 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2003
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Nov 17, 2010
- Last update posted
- Jul 1, 2017
2003 – 2010
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike | Bethesda | Maryland | 20892 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00055003, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jul 1, 2017 · Synced Sep 5, 2026
Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.
Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00055003 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.