NCT05920161

Influence of Stress on Encoding and Prediction

Neural Mechanisms of Stress Effects Across Hippocampal Encoding and Prediction

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 106 (actual)
• Sponsor: Yale University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the neural mechanisms by which acute stress influences statistical learning and episodic encoding.

Detailed description

This study aims to assess the neural and behavioral mechanisms by which acute stress modulates episodic encoding (which involves the trisynaptic pathway: entorhinal cortex, dentate gyrus, cornu ammonis \[CA\] 3, and CA 1) and statistical learning (monosynaptic pathway: entorhinal cortex, CA1) in humans.

Conditions

• Stress
• Learning, Spatial

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Test	The SECPT is a brief validated laboratory-based stress induction containing both physical and social elements
BEHAVIORAL	Control	This is matched to the SECPT but with warm instead of cold water

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-03-02
• Primary completion: 2024-10-04
• Completion: 2024-10-04
• First posted: 2023-06-27
• Last updated: 2025-10-15
• Results posted: 2025-10-15

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States