Neurobehavioral Intervention as a Novel Treatment Approach for Emotion-Regulatory Deficits

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The present study will explore the effectiveness of a computer based neurobehavioral intervention in alleviating symptoms and improving emotion regulation in psychiatric populations. It will increase understanding of psychopathology at a neural-circuit level and aid development of new non-pharmacological treatment for emotion regulatory deficits.

Official Title
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Neurobehavioral Intervention as a Novel Treatment Approach for Emotion-Regulatory Deficits

Conditions
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Anxiety, Depression

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Computerized Neurobehavioral Intervention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: current anxiety or depression symptoms internet access Exclusion Criteria: lifetime psychotic disorder, past-year substance dependence

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: Engaging computerized tasks<br>Participants will log into a personalized website and engage in computerized tasks online. | Behavioral: Computerized Neurobehavioral Intervention<br>* Targeted, computerized interventions completed from the participants' own home on a computer.<br>|
| Experimental: Neurobehavioral computerized tasks<br>Participants will log into a personalized website and engage in computerized tasks online. | Behavioral: Computerized Neurobehavioral Intervention<br>* Targeted, computerized interventions completed from the participants' own home on a computer.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reaction Time to Facial Affect Identification During Emotional Conflict | A standardized set of facial emotions (fear and happy) were presented for a duration of about 1 second in quick succession (a new face every 3-5 seconds). Across each face was written an emotional word (FEAR or HAPPY), which could be either congruent or incongruent with the facial expression. The participant was instructed to identify the facial emotion as quickly as possible and ignore the overlaid emotion word. The outcome measure of interest was the average speed (across all trials presented) within which an individual could correctly identify the facial emotion as a function of time (pre or post-intervention), treatment arm (control or intervention), facial affect (fear or happy), and congruency of word and facial affect (congruent or incongruent). | Baseline, 3-month | 
| Amygdala Blood Oxygenation-level Dependent Response (BOLD) Activation to Face Affect Identification During Emotional Conflict | The degree of differential BOLD signal change (T2*-weighted contrast in a defined region of the brain as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging) within each individual, averaged across trials, during facial affect identification (fear or happy) and induction of emotional conflict (when the emotion word FEAR or HAPPY was either congruent or incongruent with the facial expression). We examined the differential degree of amygdala BOLD signal change as a function of emotion type (fear or happy), congruency (congruent or incongruent), and hemisphere (left or right) at baseline and 3 months. | Baseline, 3 Months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Computerized neurobehavioral intervention