Testing a Neurocognitive Model of Distancing Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Condition: Emotion Regulation; Real Versus Sham Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Distancing oneself from a current distressing situation is a mental skill that can help
      people to manage their emotions. However, little is known about how distancing works in the
      brain. Recently developed tools in neuroscience that can modify brain activity might be able
      to make distancing more or less effective. In doing so, the results could lead to a better
      understanding of the cognitive processes and neural circuits that support distancing as a
      form of emotion regulation. If successful, this research may lead to the development of new
      treatments to help those who suffer from stress-related disorders, such as anxiety and
      depression.
    

Detailed description: 
      Distancing is an emotion regulation skill that relies in part on self-projection, or the
      ability to shift perspective from the here and now to a simulated time, place, or person.
      Based on prior review and meta-analysis of the distancing literature, a new model has been
      developed of the neurocognitive processes that support distancing. The proposed experiment
      will test the model causally through a neural intervention that should impair or enhance the
      ability of healthy adults to successfully apply distancing to down-regulate negative affect.
      In the model, it is hypothesized that the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) was a key region
      mediating the self-projection aspect of distancing. Leveraging recent functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) work, the experiment will functionally modulate this region through
      inhibitory transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to test its causal role in distancing.
      Importantly, the proposed work shifts emphasis from traditional models of emotion regulation,
      which implicate frontal executive control mechanisms, to new cognitive processes and brain
      targets that can ultimately lead to novel approaches to treat affective disorders.
    

Intervention name(s): Transcranial magnetic stimulation task; Sham transcranial magnetic stimulation task
Intervention type(s): Device; Device
Intervention description(s): Experimenters will employ a continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) sequence using a figure-8 coil positioned tangentially to the scalp over the target coordinates. Experimenters have defined the target coordinates for stimulation (Montreal Neuroscience Institute coordinates -53, -53, 23) based on peak objective distancing activation in the left temporal parietal junction (TPJ) in previous fMRI studies using the same task.; A sham version of the TMS intervention where subjects will receive a small electrical stimulation on the scalp via two small electrodes in conjunction with a TMS coil activation. The TMS coil will be reoriented to stimulate into the air away from the scalp, simulating traditional TMS, without inducing any current to the subject.
Other intervention name(s): TMS; Sham TMS
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science