Games to Overcome Late Life Depression (GOLD)

September 18, 2018 updated by: Pat Arean, University of Washington
This is a pilot study divided into two phases. IN phase 1 (completed) participants will be randomized to receive 8 weeks of Problem Solving Therapy (PST) alone or 8 weeks of a cognitive training game called, Evolution (Evo) plus clinical management. In Phase 2 (now recruiting), participants will be randomized to Evo, PST, and a different cognitive training program called Words. Words is similar to Evo in that it is an adaptive training program and includes case management. IN both studies participants will be assessed for clinical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) outcomes at baseline, 4 weeks and 8 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Evo is a computer game that targets parts of the brain (i.e. the cognitive control network) that we think may be associated with depressive symptoms. This study is exploratory and will inform future hypotheses the research team will test in subsequent research.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98105
        • University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

60 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Between 60-80 years of age
  2. Meets criteria for Major Depressive Disorder
  3. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) of 20 or greater
  4. Mini Mental State Exam score of 24 or greater
  5. Can speak and read English
  6. Able to physically participate in the research protocol (e.g.: is not suffering from a terminal or highly disabling illness)
  7. Can participate in MRI scans
  8. Able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History of psychosis, mania, or currently using or abusing illicit drugs or alcohol
  2. Diagnosis of dementia
  3. Taking cognitive enhancers
  4. Change in or newly began taking psychiatric medication within the last 6 months
  5. Pacemaker
  6. Metal in the body that cannot be removed
  7. Color blind
  8. Movement disorder that prevents participation -

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Problem Solving Therapy
Problem Solving Therapy is an evidence-based behavioral treatment for late life depression proven effective with different geriatric groups including ambulatory; medically ill; older adults with executive dysfunctions; and more recently, low-income, disabled older adults.
Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy
Problem solving therapy is an evidence based behavioral intervention for late life depression. It consist of 8 weekly session of talk therapy, whereby the therapist helps the patient solve problems that are thought to be causing depressive symptoms.
Other Names:
  • PST
Experimental: Evolution
Evolution is a plasticity intervention in the form of a video driving game that targets the cognitive conflict network.
Behavioral: Evolution
Evo is a video game that has therapeutic elements targeting the cognitive control network. Impairment in this neural network is associated with a specific subtype of late life depression that puts people at risk for poor response to SSRIs. Evo is built from a research grade training paradigm that has shown to induce improvements in this network in healthy older adults
Other Names:
  • Neuroracer
  • Evo
  • Project: Evolution
Placebo Comparator: Words
Words is a challenging crosswords type of game that will serve as the placebo comparator to Evo.
Behavioral: Words
Words is a cognitively challenging crossword/word search type of video game that will serve as the control condition for the second phase of this project

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in depression over time
Time Frame: weeks 0, 4, 8, 24
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
weeks 0, 4, 8, 24

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Washington

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Patricia Arean, PhD, University of Washington

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

August 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 27, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

September 1, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 19, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2018

Last Verified

September 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00001751

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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