Train Your Brain - Executive Function

November 25, 2025 updated by: USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

The Effect of Executive Function Training on Diet and Attitudes

The purpose of this research is to test if playing games designed to improve an individual's executive function can change their views about the types of foods they eat. Executive function is a set of mental processes that people use every day to make decisions - such as what kinds of foods they choose to eat and when and where they eat those foods.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to determine whether executive function (EF) training concurrently improves attitudes, perceptions, and consumption of nutrient-dense foods (i.e., fruits, vegetables) while worsening the same of nutrient-poor foods. In effect, the aim is to test whether EF training can promote the substitution of nutrient-poor foods with fruits and vegetables (FV), as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommends regular consumption of FV as part of a healthy dietary pattern. Given the health benefits associated with consuming FV, EF training that effectively promotes increased FV intake may benefit health. For example, FV consumption is associated with the reduced risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and eye and skin health. Moreover, FV consumption is associated with better mental and cognitive health.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

630

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
    • North Dakota
      • Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States, 58203
        • USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • BMI 23-38 kg/m2
  • US citizenship
  • Not currently dieting to lose weight and no weight loss or gain of >2 kg over the past 3 months
  • No tobacco or e-cigarette use
  • Not pregnant or lactating or planning to become pregnant while participating in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not a US citizen
  • Currently dieting to lose weight
  • Weight loss of >2 kg over the past 3 months
  • Tobacco or e-cigarette use
  • Pregnant or lactating or planning to become pregnant while participating in the study
  • A history of bariatric surgery
  • Diagnosis of major medical or psychiatric condition that would interfere with participation, including not being physically able to play the games, or a current eating disorder

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: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EFfect-food choices
Participants will complete four online games at least biweekly during the study.
Other: online games with various food images
Participant will play a series of online games with various food images.
Active Comparator: Control
Participants will complete four online games at least biweekly during the study.
Other: online games with images of flowers and songbirds
Participant will play a series of online games with images of flowers and songbirds.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in response time
Time Frame: Week 0, Week 9
Change in online game speed of response time
Week 0, Week 9
Change in percent correct
Time Frame: Week 0, Week 9
Change in online game percent correct
Week 0, Week 9

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shanon Casperson, PhD, USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center

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

Helpful Links

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)

September 25, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 18, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

August 18, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 7, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

July 11, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

December 3, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 25, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • GFHNRC299

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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

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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