The Role of Norepinephrine in Emotional Processing
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00109642. 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
Investigating the Role of Norepinephrine in Emotional Processing Through Alpha-2 Adrenergic Receptor Modulation
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
This study will examine the role of a brain chemical called norepinephrine in thinking, decision-making, and emotional processing. After norepinephrine is released from a brain cell, it binds to another brain cell's receptor. Some of the receptors it binds to are called alpha-2 adrenergic receptors. This study will use medicines called yohimbine and guanfacine to look at the function of norepinephrine in the brain when it binds to the alpha-2 adrenergic receptors. Yohimbine increases norepinephrine's function and guanfacine decreases its function. Healthy volunteers between 20 and 50 years of age who do not have heart disease, high blood pressure, psychiatric illness, or other serious medical conditions and who are not allergic to lactose may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical and psychiatric history, physical examination, neuropsychological testing, blood and urine tests and electrocardiogram. Women are screened with a urine pregnancy test. Participants are given a pill of yohimbine, guanfacine, or placebo and undergo the following tests and procedures: * Blood pressure and heart rate measurements: Blood pressure and heart rate are measured before the medication is taken and several times after. * Blood draws: Blood is drawn before the medicine is taken and 90 minutes after to measure levels of norepinephrine and the hormone cortisol. * Neurocognitive testing: Participants do neurocognitive tasks on the computer for up to 90 minutes. The tasks involve looking at pictures or words on a screen and responding according to instructions given. * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): Patients may undergo neurocognitive testing MRIs. This test uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to show changes in brain activity. The subject lies on a table that slides into a narrow cylinder (the MRI scanner). Images of the brain are obtained while the subject performs the computer tasks.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00109642
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Observational
- Phase
- Not listed
- Enrollment
- 216 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
Not listed
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 20 Years to 50 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Apr 25, 2005
- Primary completion
- Mar 14, 2009
- Completion
- Mar 14, 2009
- Last update posted
- Jul 1, 2017
2005 – 2009
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 NCT00109642, 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 6, 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 NCT00109642 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.