fMRI in Blood Phobia Syncope

Neuroimaging in Blood Phobia Syncope

We plan to study patient who faint in response to the sight of blood and compare them to healthy subjects who do not. We are going to use a special type of MRI scan (functional MRI) to determine if there are differences in brain activation in response to seeing bloody or gory pictures that occur before the fainting occurs.

Another aim of the study is to determine whether or not differences in personality traits among people with blood phobia is associated with differences in BOLD signal responses during fMRI.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-30 years of age
• 1. History of at least one syncopal episode upon exposure to viewing blood (Case Group)
• Negative urine pregnancy test on study day

Exclusion Criteria:

• Vasoactive medications (within 2 weeks of study day)
• antihypertensives
• beta blockers
• vasoconstrictors
• Psychotropic medications (within 4 weeks of study day)
• History of psychostimulant or opiate use
• History of alcohol, benzodiazepine or cannabis abuse or dependence