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RECRUITINGINTERVENTIONAL

Unconscious Reduction of Fear Through Decoded Neuro-Reinforcement

Important: This information is not medical advice. Talk to your doctor about whether a clinical trial is right for you.

About This Trial

This application investigates the efficacy of a novel method of neuro-reinforcement based on decoded fMRI activity to reduce fear responses in individuals with phobias (e.g., spiders, snakes). This method works unconsciously in the brain, without the need for participants to endure repeated conscious exposures to their feared stimuli. Fear-related disorders such as specific phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other anxiety disorders present a major challenge, as effective treatment options usually involve repeated exposures to feared stimuli, leading to high levels of distress, fear, and panic that can motivate premature treatment termination. Consequently, there is an unmet need for treatment that minimizes subjective discomfort and attrition in order to maximize efficacy. Recent developments in computational neuroimaging have enabled a method that can deliver unconscious exposure to feared stimuli, resulting in effective fear reduction while bypassing a primary cause of treatment attrition. Because this treatment method happens unconsciously in the brain, changes in behavior outcomes are potentially more likely to generalize to different contexts, thereby overcoming a limitation of traditional treatments.

Who May Be Eligible (Plain English)

Who May Qualify: 1. Individual has normal or corrected to normal vision 2. Individual has normal or corrected to normal hearing 3. Individual is competent to understand willing to sign a consent form 4. Individual must meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for specific phobias, animal subtype Who Should NOT Join This Trial: 1. Individual is unable to fill in consent form correctly 2. Individual is unable to respond adequately to screening questions 3. Individual is unable to maintain focus or to sit during assessment 4. Individual has history of: neurological disease or defect (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia or other psychological disorders, or seizures) Individual has vision problems (including cataracts, amblyopia, or glaucoma) Individual presents with: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Substance Use Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis, neurologic diagnoses or unstable serious medical conditions 5. Participant receives an elevated score on the PHQ-9 6. Individual does not present with more than one object of specific phobia 7. Individual can touch the phobic object category during the pre-treatment Behavioral Approach Test without presenting significant distress 8. Individual is currently prescribed psychotropic medication Always talk to your doctor about whether this trial is right for you.

Original Eligibility Criteria

View original clinical language
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Individual has normal or corrected to normal vision 2. Individual has normal or corrected to normal hearing 3. Individual is competent to understand informed consent 4. Individual must meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for specific phobias, animal subtype Exclusion Criteria: 1. Individual is unable to fill in consent form correctly 2. Individual is unable to respond adequately to screening questions 3. Individual is unable to maintain focus or to sit during assessment 4. Individual has history of: neurological disease or defect (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, schizophrenia or other psychological disorders, or seizures) Individual has vision problems (including cataracts, amblyopia, or glaucoma) Individual presents with: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Substance Use Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis, neurologic diagnoses or unstable serious medical conditions 5. Participant receives an elevated score on the PHQ-9 6. Individual does not present with more than one object of specific phobia 7. Individual can touch the phobic object category during the pre-treatment Behavioral Approach Test without presenting significant distress 8. Individual is currently prescribed psychotropic medication

Treatments Being Tested

BEHAVIORAL

Unconscious Neuro-reinforcement

Individuals will complete an implicit fmri neuro-reinforcement task where real-time brain activity is matched to a desired activation. Individuals will also receive financial reward for activating the desired activation. Visual feedback will be presented to indicate how well individuals' brain activity matches the desired activation. Individuals will complete 1 session of neuro-reinforcement.

BEHAVIORAL

Unconscious Neuro-reinforcement

Individuals will complete an implicit fmri neuro-reinforcement task where real-time brain activity is matched to a desired activation. Individuals will also receive financial reward for activating the desired activation. Visual feedback will be presented to indicate how well individuals' brain activity matches the desired activation. Individuals will complete 3 sessions of neuro-reinforcement.

BEHAVIORAL

Unconscious Neuro-reinforcement

Individuals will complete an implicit fmri neuro-reinforcement task where real-time brain activity is matched to a desired activation. Individuals will also receive financial reward for activating the desired activation. Visual feedback will be presented to indicate how well individuals' brain activity matches the desired activation. Individuals will complete 5 sessions of neuro-reinforcement.

Locations (1)

University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, United States