Chatbot Intervention Effects on Emotional Arousal in Anhedonia
Effects of a Chatbot-Based Intervention on Subjective Arousal and Neural Reactivity to Emotional Video Stimuli in Individuals With Anhedonia
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
Anhedonia represents a core characteristic of depression and is characterized by reduced experience of pleasure. It is closely related to decreased motivation, altered reward processing, changes in affective responsiveness, and alterations in intrinsic brain network function. Anhedonia is not specifically targeted by currently available pharmacological interventions. Initial evidence indicates that an increased willingness to change and implementation of change in daily life can alleviate anhedonia.
The present study aims to examine whether a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot can lead to changes in affective arousal responses in college students with elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms. Affective arousal is included because anhedonia may involve altered emotional reactivity and reduced subjective responses to affective stimuli, in addition to reduced pleasure. The emotional video task allows the study to assess subjective arousal responses and neural responses to positive, neutral, and negative affective stimuli. To this end, eligible participants with a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory will undergo a randomized, between-subjects, active-control intervention study. Participants will be assigned to either a Motivational Interviewing-based chatbot group or an active control chatbot group for 1 week. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include self-report questionnaires and an affective arousal video task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine psychological, behavioral, and neural effects of the intervention.
Study Type
Enrollment (Estimated)
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
Study Contact
- Name: Benjamin Becker, Dr
- Phone Number: (852) 3917-5097
- Email: bbecker@hku.hk
Study Locations
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Sichuan
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Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Recruiting
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
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Contact:
- Benjamin Becker, Dr
- Phone Number: (852) 3917-5097
- Email: bbecker@hku.hk
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-
Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-40 years
- Right-handed
- Normal or corrected normal visual acuity
- Participants must show elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms at screening, defined as a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory
Exclusion Criteria:
- History of major central nervous system disorders, such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, or brain tumors.
- History of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorders.
- History of substance or alcohol use disorder or substance or alcohol misuse within the past 12 months that may affect study participation or outcome assessment.
- Individuals currently at high risk of suicide, severe self-harm, or experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis.
- Individuals who are currently using psychiatric medications or have undergone psychotherapy within the past 4 weeks that may significantly affect mood, motivation, or reward processing.
- Severe vision or hearing impairments that cannot be corrected and would interfere with task performance.
- Contraindications to MRI scanning, including metallic implants, pacemakers, severe claustrophobia, or other conditions incompatible with MRI.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Basic Science
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Double
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
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Experimental: Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot group
Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention
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The experimental chatbot is designed to use principles of Motivational Interviewing to support participants in exploring their personal values, motivation for change, and daily behavioral goals related to pleasure, engagement, and reward-seeking.
During the intervention period, participants will interact with the chatbot regularly through brief text-based conversations.
The chatbot will provide empathic, non-judgmental responses, encourage reflection on current difficulties, and help participants identify small, feasible actions that may increase daily engagement and positive experiences.
It will not provide diagnosis, crisis counseling, or medical treatment.
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Active Comparator: Active control chatbot group
Active control nature-story chatbot intervention
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Participants will interact with a chatbot matched in format and frequency of use.
This chatbot will provide neutral nature-related stories or general natural history content.
It will be designed to maintain participant engagement while avoiding therapeutic techniques, motivational interviewing strategies, behavioral activation guidance, or personalized mental health advice.
This active control condition will help control for nonspecific effects of chatbot interaction, attention, expectancy, and digital engagement.
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What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Subjective Affective Arousal in Response to Video Stimuli
Time Frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
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Participants will view positive, neutral, and negative video stimuli before and after the intervention and report their subjective arousal after each video.
Mean arousal ratings will be calculated separately for each emotional condition, and pre-to-post changes will be compared across positive, neutral, and negative video conditions
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Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
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Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
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Activity in Brain Systems Supporting Affective Arousal Processing
Time Frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
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Participants will undergo task-based BOLD fMRI while viewing positive, negative, and neutral emotional videos.
Neural responses within predefined brain systems involved in arousal and valence processing will be estimated using a general linear model.
Beta contrast estimates will then be derived for positive versus neutral, negative versus neutral, and positive versus negative conditions.
These estimates will be used to evaluate changes from baseline to post-intervention.
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Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
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Collaborators and Investigators
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Estimated)
Primary Completion (Estimated)
Study Completion (Estimated)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Actual)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Other Study ID Numbers
- BAM_lab_MI_02
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
IPD Plan Description
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
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