Trial · NCT01253421

The Effects of Dopamine on Reward Processing

NCT01253421, Phase 1, Completed, Mclean Hospital; results first posted 2018-01-18

3 sourcestrials-2026-11-12-0.5.0

Cite this record

ConductScience Library. The Effects of Dopamine on Reward Processing. Trials, record NCT01253421. Release trials-2026-11-12-0.5.0, 12 Nov 2026. https://conductscience.org/library/trials/NCT01253421

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Trial

As registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, in the graph's capture of the registry.

Title: The Effects of Dopamine on Reward Processing
NCT number: NCT01253421
Status: Completed
Phases: Phase 1
Enrollment: 159 participants, actual
Lead sponsor: Mclean Hospital
Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Interventions: amisulpride, placebo
First posted: 2010-12-03
Last updated: 2018-04-27
Results first posted: 2018-01-18
Limitations and caveats: The choice of a 50-mg dose of amisulpride was based on animal work showing low doses potentiate striatal dopamine release, have strong hedonic effects, and increase the incentive value of environmental cues. Higher doses may have different results.

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Registered outcomes10

Each outcome the trial registered, primary first, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.

List	Outcome	Time frame	Description
Primary	Effect on PST Reward Learning	administered after scan	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on the ability to learn from rewards during a Probabilistic Selection Task (PST). A higher effect size indicates greater ability to learn from reward trials.
Primary	Effect on PST Penalty Learning	administered after scan	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on the ability to learn from penalties during a Probabilistic Selection Task (PST). A higher effect size indicates greater ability to learn from penalty trials.
Primary	Effect on Caudate Response to Cues	Scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on caudate activation after presentation of a cue. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Primary	Effect on NAcc Response to Cues	Scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation after presentation of a cue. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Primary	Putamen Response to Cues	Scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on putamen activation after presentation of a cue. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Primary	Effect on Caudate Response to Reward	During scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on caudate activation after Reward outcomes. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Primary	Effect on NAcc Response to Reward	During scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation after reward outcomes. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Primary	Effect on Putamen Response to Reward	During scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on putamen activation (beta) after reward outcomes. Positive values indicate an increase in activation relative to baseline.
Secondary	Effect on Caudate-dACC Connectivity After Reward	During scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on functional connectivity between caudate and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in response to reward outcomes
Secondary	Effect on NAcc-MCC Connectivity After Reward	During scan session	This statistic shows the effect (beta) that the combination of diagnosis and drug has on functional connectivity between nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and mid-cingulate cortex (MCC) in response to reward outcomes.

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Outcomes10

Each outcome the trial posted results for, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.

Type	Outcome	Time frame	Population	Units	Measured as
PRIMARY	Effect on PST Reward Learning	administered after scan	Reward-learning results are missing for 7 subjects	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on PST Penalty Learning	administered after scan	Penalty-learning results are missing for 7 subjects	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on Caudate Response to Cues	Scan session	Data are missing for 8 subjects due to poor MRI quality.	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on NAcc Response to Cues	Scan session	Data are missing for 8 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Putamen Response to Cues	Scan session	Data are missing for 9 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on Caudate Response to Reward	During scan session	Data are missing for 9 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on NAcc Response to Reward	During scan session	Data are missing for 10 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
PRIMARY	Effect on Putamen Response to Reward	During scan session	Data are missing for 9 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
SECONDARY	Effect on Caudate-dACC Connectivity After Reward	During scan session	Data missing for 8 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN
SECONDARY	Effect on NAcc-MCC Connectivity After Reward	During scan session	Data missing for 8 subjects due to poor MRI quality	Effect size (Beta)	MEAN

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Results by group40

Each measurement the trial posted, group by group, in the words and numbers it posted.

Outcome	Group	Value	Spread	Units
Effect on PST Reward Learning	MDD-amisulpride	0.6271	Standard Deviation 0.15608	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Reward Learning	MDD-placebo	0.7575	Standard Deviation 0.1676	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Reward Learning	HC-amisulpride	0.823	Standard Deviation 0.1228	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Reward Learning	HC-placebo	0.7545	Standard Deviation 0.1828	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Penalty Learning	MDD-amisulpride	0.2428	Standard Deviation 0.1800	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Penalty Learning	MDD-placebo	0.29	Standard Deviation 0.2056	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Penalty Learning	HC-amisulpride	0.2207	Standard Deviation 0.20225	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on PST Penalty Learning	HC-placebo	0.2391	Standard Deviation 0.14618	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on Caudate Response to Cues	MDD-amisulpride	0.2231	Standard Deviation 0.42189	Effect size (Beta)
Effect on Caudate Response to Cues	MDD-placebo	-0.0391	Standard Deviation 0.32792	Effect size (Beta)

1 to 10 of 40Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 40 results by group

Participant flow45

How many started, completed or left each group, period by period.

Period	Milestone	Group	Participants
Assessment and Scheduling	STARTED	All Participants Prior to Randomization	159
Assessment and Scheduling	STARTED	MDD-amisulpride	0
Assessment and Scheduling	STARTED	MDD-placebo	0
Assessment and Scheduling	STARTED	HC-amisulpride	0
Assessment and Scheduling	STARTED	HC-placebo	0
Assessment and Scheduling	Eligible After Screening Visit	All Participants Prior to Randomization	85
Assessment and Scheduling	Eligible After Screening Visit	MDD-amisulpride	0
Assessment and Scheduling	Eligible After Screening Visit	MDD-placebo	0
Assessment and Scheduling	Eligible After Screening Visit	HC-amisulpride	0
Assessment and Scheduling	Eligible After Screening Visit	HC-placebo	0

1 to 10 of 45Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 45 participant flow

Adverse events0

Each adverse event the trial posted, group by group: the participants affected out of those at risk.

None in this release.

Adverse event totals12

The totals the trial posted for each group.

Total	Group	At risk
Total, all-cause mortality	MDD-amisulpride	15
Total, all-cause mortality	MDD-placebo	14
Total, all-cause mortality	HC-amisulpride	16
Total, all-cause mortality	HC-placebo	14
Total, other adverse events	MDD-amisulpride	15
Total, other adverse events	MDD-placebo	14
Total, other adverse events	HC-amisulpride	16
Total, other adverse events	HC-placebo	14
Total, serious adverse events	MDD-amisulpride	15
Total, serious adverse events	MDD-placebo	14

1 to 10 of 12Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 12 adverse event totals

Papers2

The papers the trial lists on ClinicalTrials.gov.

PMID	Listed as	Source
27771973	BACKGROUND	PubMed
31784354	DERIVED	PubMed

Grants1

The grants NIH RePORTER links to the trial, newest funded first: NIH's, and some of AHRQ's, CDC's, FDA's and VA's. Each shows its title, principal investigators, organization and funder in its newest year.

Project	Title	Principal investigators	Organization	Funder	Fiscal years
R01MH068376	Neuroimaging Studies of Reward Processing in Depression	PIZZAGALLI, DIEGO A	MCLEAN HOSPITAL	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH	2004 to 2014

Source NIH RePORTER

Trial comparisons0

Comparisons of the trial's two groups, calculated by ConductScience from the counts it posted.

None in this release.

Tests1

The ConductCognition tests this trial's registered outcomes name, as ScienceGraph matched them in trial-tests-2026-11-12-0.2.1.

Test	Named as
Probabilistic Selection Task	Primary outcome

Source ConductCognition

Data dates

The day each source was copied for this release.

ClinicalTrials.gov: 2026-11-12; ClinicalTrials.gov
Results, from AACT: 2026-03-23; AACT
NIH grant links: 2026-11-13; NIH RePORTER

Sources 3

ClinicalTrials.gov's posted results, through CTTI's AACTFreely available. Acknowledgement requested
ClinicalTrials.govNo license stated
NIH RePORTER's clinical studies and project filesPublic domain

Each source's terms

ClinicalTrials.gov's posted results, through CTTI's AACTClinicalTrials.gov data via Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov (AACT), CTTI. CTTI makes its materials freely available and requests acknowledgement. https://aact.ctti-clinicaltrials.org/documentation/299
ClinicalTrials.govnone stated
NIH RePORTER's clinical studies and project filesPublic domain (NIH RePORTER)

ClinicalTrials.gov's data carry an international copyright outside the United States: https://clinicaltrials.gov/about-site/terms-conditions.

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