Clinical trial NCT04370613: Imagery Vividness and Arousal Responses to Prospective Imagery
Official title: Imagery Vividness and Arousal Responses to Prospective Imagery
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: Mental Imagery
Skin conductance
Lead sponsor: Uppsala University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-05-01
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Healthy participants

Brief summary: Research has shown that mental imagery appears to carry emotion better than verbal communication. One way this can be noted is that emotional mental imagery trigger physiological arousal responses. These may be important for treatment techniques using mental imagery, such as imaginal exposure and imagery re-scripting. However, as the development of clinical applications increasingly considers the use of flashpoint imagery, i.e. mental imagery of short duration, it is of interest to examine whether also flashpoint imagery trigger arousal responses. This study examines the arousal response to flashpoint imagery of different valence (positive, negative, and neutral).

Moreover, emerging evidence suggest that depressed individuals find it more difficult to produce mental imagery of positive future events (less accessible and vivid) than healthy controls. In addition, individuals with clinical anxiety appear to be able to produce imagery of negative future events more easily than healthy controls. This study explores whether these results can be noted also in sub-clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety, and if so, if they are accompanied with corresponding changes in arousal responses.

Detailed description: This study takes part in a single session. Participants will produce flashpoint imagery of future events while skin conductance responses, imagery vividness ratings, valence and arousal ratings are collected. Participants will also fill in questionnaires on depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as a questionnaire measuring general propensity for mental imagery.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 18 or over
* Fluent in Swedish
* Willing and able to provide informed consent and complete study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

* Current psychiatric disorder
* Current use of psychotropic medication

Primary outcomes:
measure: Imagery vividness ratings
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: Skin conductance response (SCR)
timeFrame: Day 1
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Time in seconds it takes to construct a situation to visualize
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: Subjective Valence Ratings
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: Subjective Arousal Ratings
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
timeFrame: Day 1
measure: Formulär för patienthälsa (PHQ-9)
timeFrame: Day 1
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Uppsala
country: Sweden
facility: Uppsala University, Department of Psychology
Study officials:
affiliation: Uppsala University
name: Thomas Ågren, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: