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Vasopressin and Pain Perception in the Brain
NCT03446456 · View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Study Summary
The feeling of pain is not just a sensory experience, but is also influenced by emotions, beliefs and expectations, making pain a highly subjective experience. This is evident in clinical practice, where the behavior of the physician and the treatment context can strongly influence the pain experience of patients. Research has shown that patients' expectation that a treatment will reduce pain influences individual perception of pain, even if the treatment has no active ingredient. The expectancy-induced analgesia emerges due to a modulation of the individual pain experience of patients by an engagement of endogenous inhibitory systems in the central nervous system. The development of expectancy-induced analgesia can be generated in several ways. The investigators have previously demonstrated that social information and observational learning (e.g. the patient observes analgesia in another person receiving a treatment) can lead to expectancy-induced analgesia and pain reduction. However, the neural mechanisms (mechanisms in the brain) of how these expectancies are acquired and the neural mechanisms of analgesia induced by observational learning are unknown. The investigators recently established a procedure to investigate neural mechanisms of observational learning in placebo analgesia. Here the investigators propose to investigate the influence of vasopressin, a neurotransmitter that is important for social interaction, on observational learning. The investigators will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a non-invasive method, to investigate neural activity in humans. Participants will either receive vasopressin or saline with a nasal spray. During fMRI scanning, participants will then undergo an observational learning phase, where the study participants will learn the experience of analgesia in another person through a video, and a testing phase, where participants will perceive painful stimulations with the same cues as the observational phase. Th
Conditions Studied
Interventions
- OTHER Saline
- DRUG Arginine vasopressin
- BEHAVIORAL Observational learning
- OTHER fMRI data aquisition
Study Locations (1)
Maryland
- Luana Colloca — Baltimore
Trial Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Enrollment Target | 40 participants |
| Start Date | 2018-09-17 |
| Est. Completion | 2026-12-31 |
| Phase | Phase 1 |
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Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗What the Registry Record Tells You About NCT03446456
The ClinicalTrials.gov registry entry for NCT03446456 describes a study currently listed as active not recruiting. It is categorized as Phase 1, which is the standard way researchers label where a study sits along the investigational pathway from early safety work through later efficacy and post-marketing evaluation. The registered enrollment target is 40 participants, a figure that helps gauge the scale of data the investigators plan to collect. The listed sponsor is University of Maryland, Baltimore, which has 559 total studies on file at ClinicalTrials.gov, and sponsors are the parties responsible for study design, oversight, and regulatory filings.
The record links to 1 condition, with Acute Pain appearing as the primary indexed condition, and to 4 interventions — of which Saline is the first listed. Interventions can include drugs, devices, procedures, behavioral programs, or observational arms, and each is tracked as a separate registry field so that downstream queries can filter accurately. When a trial lists multiple interventions, it usually reflects a multi-arm design or a comparison protocol rather than a single treatment being tested in isolation. The brief summary published in the registry is the clearest source of protocol intent and should be read before drawing conclusions from any sidebar tags.
Geographic footprint matters for practical reasons: NCT03446456 reports 1 study location spanning 1 distinct geographic area — top geographies include Maryland. A larger site network tends to correlate with broader recruitment capacity, but it does not imply anything about study quality, and site-level enrollment status can diverge from the overall registry status shown above. Every data point on this page comes from the public ClinicalTrials.gov dataset and is reproduced here for reference only; it is not a medical recommendation, an endorsement of the sponsor, or an invitation to enroll. Verify current status, eligibility criteria, and contact details directly at ClinicalTrials.gov, and discuss any participation decision with your own healthcare provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is clinical trial NCT03446456 about?
NCT03446456 is a clinical study titled "Vasopressin and Pain Perception in the Brain". The feeling of pain is not just a sensory experience, but is also influenced by emotions, beliefs and expectations, making pain a highly subjective experience. This is evident in clinical practice, where the behavior of the physician and the treatment context can strongly influence the pain experien...
What is the current status of trial NCT03446456?
This trial is currently active not recruiting. It is a Phase 1 study. The enrollment target is 40 participants. The study started on 2018-09-17. Estimated completion is 2026-12-31.
What conditions does trial NCT03446456 study?
This clinical trial studies the following conditions: Acute Pain. These conditions were identified from the trial registry and reflect the primary focus areas of the research.
What interventions are being tested in trial NCT03446456?
The interventions under investigation include: Saline (OTHER), Arginine vasopressin (DRUG), Observational learning (BEHAVIORAL), fMRI data aquisition (OTHER). Each intervention is being evaluated for safety and efficacy as part of this clinical study.
Who is sponsoring clinical trial NCT03446456?
This trial is sponsored by University of Maryland, Baltimore, which has 559 total clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. The sponsor is responsible for the study's design, funding, and regulatory compliance.
Where is trial NCT03446456 being conducted?
This trial has 1 study location across Maryland. Contact the study sites directly through ClinicalTrials.gov for enrollment availability.
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