Modulating Neurocognitive Processes of Learning to Trust and Distrust in Aging
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-100
SponsorUniversity of Florida
About this trial
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.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Able to provide verbal and written informed consent
Fluent English speaker
At least 8th grade education
On stable medication regimen
Disqualifiers
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)
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback training
BehavioralContingent 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.
Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback training
BehavioralNon-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.
Treatment groups
68 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Contingent rtfMRI neurofeedback trainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Non-contingent/sham rtfMRI neurofeedback trainingSham comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Neurofeedback Training Success
Increase in BOLD signal in ROI during up-regulation trials administration of computerized learning tasks, with contrasting groups and conditions
Time frame
at baseline and after training completion about 1 week later2
Behavioral Benefits
Increase in trust-related learning reflected in greater accuracy (e.g., in percent) on trust learning task
Time frame
at baseline and after training completion about 1 week laterSponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
University of Florida
Lead sponsor
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov