- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT05703256
Amygdala Neurofeedback for Depression - Large Scale Clinical Trial
June 2, 2023 updated by: Kymberly Young, University of Pittsburgh
Confirmatory Efficacy Randomized Clinical Trial of Amygdala Neurofeedback for Major Depressive Disorder
The goal of this study is to evaluate whether rtfMRI-nf training to increase the amygdala response to positive memories may serve as a stand-alone intervention for major depressive disorder
Study Overview
Status
Recruiting
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Previous research has shown that real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-nf) training aimed at increasing the amygdala's response to positive autobiographical memory recall holds therapeutic potential for treating patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), as clinically significant decreases in clinician administered and self-report measures of depression severity were observed following two rtfMRI amygdala neurofeedback sessions.
Furthermore, rtfMRI amygdala neurofeedback changed emotional processing towards a positive bias.
The goal of the current study is to confirm the clinical efficacy of this intervention in a new sample of depressed participants.
Thus, over the course of four years, we will conduct a randomized double-blind clinical trial examining the clinical and cognitive effects of amygdala rtfMRI-nf compared to yoked sham rtfMRI-nf (seeing the amygdala activity of another participant during training) in 200 participants with MDD from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
Participants will undergo two rtfMRI-nf sessions.
Half of the participants will receive amygdala neurofeedback and half will receive yoked sham neurofeedback.
Participants will complete the BDI-II monthly for one year following completion of the neurofeedback intervention.
The rationale for the proposed research is to provide new insights into possible mechanistic solutions for MDD, and to further guide development of this rtfMRI-nf intervention into a treatment for MDD.
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Estimated)
200
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 Contact
- Name: Kymberly Young, PhD
- Phone Number: 412-648-6179
- Email: youngk@pitt.edu
Study Contact Backup
- Name: Lisa Stupar
- Phone Number: 412-383-8100
- Email: stuparlm@upmc.edu
Study Locations
-
-
Pennsylvania
-
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15261
- Recruiting
- University of Pittsburgh
-
Contact:
- Kymberly Young, PhD
- Email: youngk@pitt.edu
-
-
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
18 years to 55 years (Adult)
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- ages 18 - 55
- primary diagnosis of MDD and are currently depressed
- able to give written informed consent prior to participation
- unmedicated OR are stable on an antidepressant regime (at least 4 weeks to ensure symptoms are stable). Effective medications will not be discontinued for the purposes of the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- clinically significant or unstable cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, neurological, gastrointestinal illness or unstable medical disorder
- Current severe DSM-V alcohol or substance use disorder, with the exception of nicotine or caffeine. Clinician will access subjects' alcohol and substance use on a case-by-case to determine whether specific cases of mild or moderate alcohol or substance use would also interfere with the effects of the intervention.
- history of traumatic brain injury
- unable to complete MRI scan due to claustrophobia or general MRI exclusions (e.g., shrapnel inside body)
- currently pregnant or breast feeding
- unable to complete questionnaires written in English
- current (within 3 weeks of testing) use of any antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, stimulants, benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, or other medications (except antidepressants) likely to influence cerebral blood flow. Effective medications will not be discontinued for the purposes of the study.
- diagnosis of psychotic or organic mental disorder, bipolar I or II disorder.
- eye problems or difficulties in corrected vision.
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: Treatment
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Double
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Amygdala real-time fMRI neurofeedback
Amygdala neurofeedback - attempt to upregulate the left amygdala during positive autobiographical memory recall via real time fMRI neurofeedback from the amygdala.
Two sessions will be performed one week apart.
|
Participants are shown activity from their left amygdala in real time and are instructed to increase the level of activity in that region by thinking of positive autobiographical memories
|
Sham Comparator: Sham feedback
Yoked sham - participants will see the amygdala activity of another subject who completed the intervention.
Two sessions will be performed one week apart.
|
Participants are shown activity from another participant's left amygdala who previously completed the task and are instructed to increase the level of activity in that region by thinking of positive autobiographical memories
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)
Time Frame: baseline vs up to one year
|
measures depressive symptoms.
The total score will be used, which ranges from 0-63.
A total score of 0-13 is considered minimal range, 14-19 is mild, 20-28 is moderate, and 29-63 is severe.
Lower values represent better outcomes.
|
baseline vs up to one year
|
Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Life Functioning Questionnaire (LFQ)
Time Frame: baseline vs up to one year
|
measures ability to function in daily life.
The total score will be used, which ranges from 14-56.
A total score of 14-27 indicates no problems, and a score of 28+ indicates some impairment.
Lower values represent better outcomes.
|
baseline vs up to one year
|
Other Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Autobiographical Memory Test
Time Frame: baseline vs one month
|
measures memory specificity.
Participants are asked to recall a memory in response to 18 cue words.
The number of specific memories is determined and reported.
Scores can range from 0-18 and higher scores represent better memory performance.
|
baseline vs one month
|
Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Collaborators
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Kymberly Young, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
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
- Young KD, Siegle GJ, Zotev V, Phillips R, Misaki M, Yuan H, Drevets WC, Bodurka J. Randomized Clinical Trial of Real-Time fMRI Amygdala Neurofeedback for Major Depressive Disorder: Effects on Symptoms and Autobiographical Memory Recall. Am J Psychiatry. 2017 Aug 1;174(8):748-755. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16060637. Epub 2017 Apr 14.
- Young KD, Zotev V, Phillips R, Misaki M, Yuan H, Drevets WC, Bodurka J. Real-time FMRI neurofeedback training of amygdala activity in patients with major depressive disorder. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 11;9(2):e88785. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088785. eCollection 2014.
- Young KD, Misaki M, Harmer CJ, Victor T, Zotev V, Phillips R, Siegle GJ, Drevets WC, Bodurka J. Real-Time Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Amygdala Neurofeedback Changes Positive Information Processing in Major Depressive Disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2017 Oct 15;82(8):578-586. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.03.013. Epub 2017 Mar 28.
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)
June 1, 2023
Primary Completion (Estimated)
April 30, 2027
Study Completion (Estimated)
April 30, 2028
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
January 18, 2023
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
January 18, 2023
First Posted (Actual)
January 30, 2023
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
June 5, 2023
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
June 2, 2023
Last Verified
June 1, 2023
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- STUDY23010004
- R01MH130337 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract: NIMH)
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
YES
IPD Plan Description
All fMRI, BDI and LFQ scores for IPD will be made available through the NDAR data repository
IPD Sharing Time Frame
New data will be uploaded every 6 months and be available indefinitely
IPD Sharing Access Criteria
Users with NDA credentials may submit Data Access Requests.
Data Access Requests for a given NDA Permission Group are reviewed by an NIH-staffed Data Access Committee.
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
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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