Healthy VolunteersNCT07528378
Manipulating Social Percepts During fMRI
An observational study of Healthy Volunteers, run by Trustees of Dartmouth College.
Trial summary
This study will investigate the use of real-time fMRI to change how participants perceive social information. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 35 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthy Volunteers
- What is being tested?
- Real-time fMRI: Brain-state- triggered trials and Real-time fMRI: Covert neurofeedback
- How many people
- 10 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- 1 Sep 2026to 1 May 2027
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 35 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Study population: Healthy individuals between 18 and 35 years of age
Who may be able to join
- willingness and availability to come for a total of 6 MRI scan sessions
- good fMRI data quality in previous, non-clinical trial study, including low head motion, high vigilance during the task as measured via simultaneous eye tracking, consistent behavioral responses
Who cannot join
- metallic objects in body contraindicated for the MRI scanner
- history of severe psychiatric or neurological disease
- currently on medication for a psychiatric condition
- illicit drug use
- claustrophobia
- heavy nicotine or alcohol use
- prior head injury
- pregnancy
About this study
Official title: Manipulating Social Percepts With Real-Time fMRI
This study will investigate the use of real-time fMRI to change how participants perceive social information.
Read the detailed description
The investigators have previously established stable individual differences in how people accumulate evidence for the presence and nature of a social interaction in visual displays, termed "social tuning curves". Taking individuals with deeply characterized neural and behavioral social tuning curves, this protocol will covertly manipulate percepts in two ways using real-time fMRI: 1) brain-state-triggered trials to bias participants toward a given percept based on their pre-stimulus brain state, and 2) implicit neurofeedback prior to and during stimulus exposure to teach participants to control their brain activity in social-perceptual circuits. These experiments will directly test causal relationships between activity at different levels of the cortical hierarchy and an individual's ultimate percept of a given social stimulus.
- Conditions
- Healthy Volunteers
- Being tested
- Real-time fMRI: Brain-state- triggered trials, Real-time fMRI: Covert neurofeedback
- Keywords
- individual differences, social perception, fMRI
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Real-time fMRI: Brain-state- triggered trialsOther
During each fMRI session, we will monitor subjects' brain activity in real time and use univariate and/or multivariate activity patterns to trigger trial presentation. For each individual, we will select three regions: one key region early in the cortical hierarchy (e.g., MT), one key region late in the cortical hierarchy (e.g., anterior temporal), and one control region that does not show strong tuning to social information (e.g., primary auditory). These regions will be functionally defined for each individual using data from their characterization sessions. Subjects will report percepts behaviorally after each trial. For each region for each individual, we will then test the correlation between pre-stimulus activity and the likelihood of reporting certain percepts across trials.
Real-time fMRI: Covert neurofeedbackOther
Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that uses real-time displays of brain activity in an attempt to teach subjects to self-regulate their brain function. Here we will use implicit neurofeedback, meaning that subjects will see a feedback signal, but will not be told what that feedback signal represents (i.e., which brain region) or what the expected effects of learning to control that brain region might be. This type of neurofeedback is less prone to suggestibility and other confounding effects. Each of the two scan sessions dedicated to this intervention will be split into four equal blocks in a 2x2 design with region (early or late) and direction of modulation (up or down). Subjects will see a continuous feedback signal representing the region and direction, and will be asked to try to modulate the signal using any strategy that occurs to them.
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Likelihood of certain social percepts (behavioral)
Likelihood of participants to report perceiving certain types of interactions in social animations. Percepts are characterized according to if a social interaction was perceived, and if so, how it was perceived (on a valence axis from positive to neutral to negative).
Measured: during fMRI session
Secondary outcomes (1)
Control over brain activity (fMRI-based)
In Expt 3B (implicit neurofeedback), the degree of control obtained over the target brain region in each block will serve as a secondary outcome measure. Dynamics of brain activity in the region will be assessed over the course of the block and compared to a control block where participants were attempting to control a different region, and/or the same region in the opposite direction. The specific outcome measure will be the extent to which activity increases or decreases (i.e., slope over time) according to the instructions in that block, measured relative to the change in activity (slope) in a control block.
Measured: during fMRI session
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted14 Apr 2026
- Study start1 Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion1 May 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion1 May 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Healthy VolunteersStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 10 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Trustees of Dartmouth College
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Emily S. Finn, Trustees of Dartmouth College
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07528378
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STUDY00032009
- Other IDs
- R01MH129648
- Status last verified
- Apr 2026
- First submitted
- 2 Apr 2026
- Last updated
- 14 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 14 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Manipulating Social Percepts With Real-Time fMRI
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07528378
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STUDY00032009
- Conditions
- Healthy Volunteers
- Keywords
- individual differences, social perception, fMRI
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 10 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Trustees of Dartmouth CollegeUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- 1 Sep 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 1 May 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 May 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 14 Apr 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study will investigate the use of real-time fMRI to change how participants perceive social information.
Detailed description
The investigators have previously established stable individual differences in how people accumulate evidence for the presence and nature of a social interaction in visual displays, termed "social tuning curves". Taking individuals with deeply characterized neural and behavioral social tuning curves, this protocol will covertly manipulate percepts in two ways using real-time fMRI: 1) brain-state-triggered trials to bias participants toward a given percept based on their pre-stimulus brain state, and 2) implicit neurofeedback prior to and during stimulus exposure to teach participants to control their brain activity in social-perceptual circuits. These experiments will directly test causal relationships between activity at different levels of the cortical hierarchy and an individual's ultimate percept of a given social stimulus.
Study design
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 35 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
- Study population
- Healthy individuals between 18 and 35 years of age
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- willingness and availability to come for a total of 6 MRI scan sessions
- good fMRI data quality in previous, non-clinical trial study, including low head motion, high vigilance during the task as measured via simultaneous eye tracking, consistent behavioral responses
Key exclusion criteria (8 listed)
- metallic objects in body contraindicated for the MRI scanner
- history of severe psychiatric or neurological disease
- currently on medication for a psychiatric condition
- illicit drug use
- claustrophobia
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time fMRI: Brain-state- triggered trialsDuring each fMRI session, we will monitor subjects' brain activity in real time and use univariate and/or multivariate activity patterns to trigger trial presentation. For each individual, we will select three regions: one key region early in the cortical hierarchy (e.g., MT), one key region late in the cortical hierarchy (e.g., anterior temporal), and one control region that does not show strong tuning to social information (e.g., primary auditory). These regions will be functionally defined for each individual using data from their characterization sessions. Subjects will report percepts behaviorally after each trial. For each region for each individual, we will then test the correlation between pre-stimulus activity and the likelihood of reporting certain percepts across trials. | Other | – |
| Real-time fMRI: Covert neurofeedbackNeurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that uses real-time displays of brain activity in an attempt to teach subjects to self-regulate their brain function. Here we will use implicit neurofeedback, meaning that subjects will see a feedback signal, but will not be told what that feedback signal represents (i.e., which brain region) or what the expected effects of learning to control that brain region might be. This type of neurofeedback is less prone to suggestibility and other confounding effects. Each of the two scan sessions dedicated to this intervention will be split into four equal blocks in a 2x2 design with region (early or late) and direction of modulation (up or down). Subjects will see a continuous feedback signal representing the region and direction, and will be asked to try to modulate the signal using any strategy that occurs to them. | Other | – |
Primary outcome
Likelihood of certain social percepts (behavioral)
Time frame: during fMRI session
Likelihood of participants to report perceiving certain types of interactions in social animations. Percepts are characterized according to if a social interaction was perceived, and if so, how it was perceived (on a valence axis from positive to neutral to negative).
1 secondary outcome
Control over brain activity (fMRI-based)
Time frame: during fMRI session
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 14 Apr 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Healthy Volunteers, run by Trustees of Dartmouth College.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 14 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Likelihood of certain social percepts (behavioral) (time frame: during fMRI session). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 14 Apr 2026; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 30 Oct 2026.