Modulating Neurocognitive Processes of Learning to Trust and Distrust in Aging (DecidingBrain)

Characterizing and Modulating Neurocognitive Processes of Learning to Trust and Distrust in Aging II

Much of human interaction is based on trust. Aging has been associated with deficits in trust-related decision making, likely further exacerbated in age-associated neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's disease/AD), possibly underlying the dramatically growing public health problem of elder fraud. Optimal trust-related decision making and avoiding exploitation require the ability to learn about the trustworthiness of social partners across multiple interactions, but the role that learning plays in determining age deficits in trust decisions is currently unknown.

Aim: Probe the malleability of the underlying neurocircuitry of trust-learning deficits in aging. This study will utilize real-time fMRI neurofeedback to train older adults in brain activity up-regulation toward enhanced trust-related learning in aging and confirm critical mechanisms of experience-dependent social decisions in aging.

Grant R01AG072658 Aim 3: Test the malleability of trust-learning neurocircuitry toward optimized trust-related decision making in aging.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Cognitive Change; Aging; Neurocognitive Disorders, Mild
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training; Behavioral: Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training

Detailed Description

This study will apply rtfMRI neurofeedback training as an intervention method, to demonstrate that older adults can be trained in volitional brain activity up-regulation, reducing their trust-learning deficits. The study will comprises several MRI sessions including pre-training, training, and post-training scans.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 68
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Dana Arnold, M.S.; Phone Number: 401-617-6061; Email: arnold.d@ufl.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Ryan Faulkner; Phone Number: 727-771-5247; Email: faulkerryan@ufl.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32611
      • Recruiting
      • University of Florida
      • Principal Investigator: Natalie Ebner, PhD
      • Contact: Dana Arnold; Phone Number: 352-273-2141

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Able to provide verbal and written informed consent
• Fluent English speaker
• At least 8th grade education
• On stable medication regimen

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy
• Magnetic resonance imaging contraindications (e.g., certain metallic objects in body, claustrophobia)
• Current major depression defined as scores >14 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II
• Impaired scores on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS; cut-off of >30)
• Current use of medications with significant anticholinergic properties due to potential influence on memory ("memory enhancing"; e.g., Aricept or Namenda)
• Current use of anticonvulsant, neuroleptic, sedatives, or other medications known to affect cognition
• Uncorrected visual and hearing impairments
• Neurologic conditions affecting the brain (e.g., severe stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury with >30-minute loss of consciousness)
• Impaired scores on a cognitive screening measure, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); for older adults the cutoff will be age and education corrected
• Unstable medical illness (e.g., metastatic cancer)
• Significant cardiovascular conditions (e.g., major heart attack)
• Will not exclude participants who are taking anti-depressant medications. Use of antidepressants (particularly SSRI's) and anxiolytic medications will be recorded and included in post-hoc analyses

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training; Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training will follow an alternating up-regulation/rest block design with screen-color cues. Visual feedback about real-time brain activity in the ROI will be provided (e.g., via a thermometer bar). During resting blocks, the thermometer bar remains static.	Behavioral: Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training; Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training will follow an alternating up-regulation/rest block design with screen-color cues. Visual feedback about real-time brain activity in the ROI will be provided (e.g., via a thermometer bar). During resting blocks, the thermometer bar remains static.
Sham Comparator: Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training; Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training will follow an alternating up-regulation/rest block design with screen-color cues. Visual feedback about non-contingent/sham brain activity in the ROI will be provided (e.g., via a thermometer bar). During resting blocks, the thermometer bar remains static.	Behavioral: Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training; Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training will follow an alternating up-regulation/rest block design with screen-color cues. Visual feedback about non-contingent/sham brain activity in the ROI will be provided (e.g., via a thermometer bar). During resting blocks, the thermometer bar remains static.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Neurofeedback Training Success	Increase in BOLD signal in ROI during up-regulation trials administration of computerized learning tasks, with contrasting groups and conditions	at baseline and after training completion about 1 week later
Behavioral Benefits	Increase in trust-related learning reflected in greater accuracy (e.g., in percent) on trust learning task	at baseline and after training completion about 1 week later

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Florida
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Natalie C. Ebner, PhD., University of Florida

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 8, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 11, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 3, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Decision Making; Learning; Socioemotional; Trust; Vulnerability to Exploitation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB202400337; R01AG072658 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data may be shared with other researchers for secondary data analysis.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No