NCT04290234

Childhood Trauma and Escape Decision Dynamics

The Influence of Childhood Maltreatment on Cognitive and Reactive Fear

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 80 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University Hospital, Bonn · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive and reactive fear.

Detailed description

Childhood maltreatment dramatically increases the risk for psychiatric disorders accompanied by profound difficulties in social interactions. However, it is still unclear how childhood maltreatment affects social interactions in adulthood. In this study, we examine how childhood maltreatment may modulate threat sensitivity assessed by the distance at which an individual flees from an approaching threat. While rapid escape decisions rely on "reactive fear" circuits, slower escape decisions are associated with "cognitive fear" circuits. Based on previous observations of altered early sensory processing, we expect that childhood maltreatment affects both cognitive and reactive fear circuits.

Conditions

• Child Abuse
• Fear

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	fMRI assessment of cognitive and reactive fear	An fMRI paradigm will be used to probe how childhood maltreatment may modulate the defensive survival circuitry that facilitates escape decisions when subjects encounter fast- or slow-attacking threats.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-11-17
• Primary completion: 2020-06-01
• Completion: 2020-06-01
• First posted: 2020-02-28
• Last updated: 2020-02-28

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Germany