The effect of hydrocortisone on fear information processing
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of hydrocortisone on fear information processing
IRAS ID
168217
Contact name
Andrea Reinecke
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Hydrocortisone has been licensed for over 20 years and is commonly used to treat severe allergic reactions, skin problems, or adrenal illnesses. Recent However, recent research has shown that the glucocorticoid hydrocortisonedrug also improves learning and memory (deQuervain et al., 1998). Due to these memoryenhancing
effects, the drug might have the potential to improve psychological treatments for anxiety disorders. Preliminary support for this comes from a study showing that a single dose of hydrocortisone given before cognitive-behaviour therapy for
specific phobia significantly enhances the clinical effects of treatment (deQuervain et al., 2011). However, it remains to be clarified what the basic cognitive mechanisms underlying such an augmentation effect are. We hypothesise that
hydrocortisone improves the processing of the fear stimulus and reduces attentional avoidance, which is thought to be crucial for cognitive-behaviour therapy to reduce fear. In a double-blind between-groups design, 40 healthy volunteers will be randomised to a group receiving a single dose of hydrocortisone versus placebo. Participants will be phobic of spiders, as hydrocortisone has recently been shown to
improve cognitive-behaviour therapy for this form of anxiety, and as threat processing can be measured particularly reliably in specific phobia. We will measure the effects of the drug on performance in emotional cognitive tasks and threat processing, which can be measured using reaction-time based tasks with fear-related
(spiders) and neutral (e.g. butterflies) stimuli. In addition, we will assess personality traits at baseline to identify potential predictors of learning performance. The results from this study will ultimately help us to understand the
mechanisms underlying the augmenting effects of this drug on cognitive-behaviour
therapy and will ultimately help us to improve treatments for anxiety disorders and their application.REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1431
Date of REC Opinion
24 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion