NCT03527550

Cognitive Control Training for Urgency in a Naturalistic Clinical Setting

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Control Training for Urgency in a Naturalistic Clinical Setting

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 46 (actual)
• Sponsor: Mclean Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study is designed to test whether computer-based cognitive exercises are helpful for reducing a specific type of impulsivity. Also, the study is testing whether these are exercises are associated with specific changes in behavior and in the brain. Participants will be psychiatric patients enrolled in a partial hospitalization program. Half of these participants will receive usual treatment, and half will complete computer-based cognitive exercises in addition to usual treatment.

Detailed description

Impulsivity has different components. One personality trait related to impulsivity, known as "urgency," is strongly related to many different mental health symptoms and risky behaviors. Urgency refers to impulsivity specifically in the context of strong emotions. Research shows that higher levels of urgency are related to specific deficits in cognition. Problems with response inhibition--the ability to cancel or withhold a planned action--are associated with urgency. Also, research shows that difficulties in another aspect of cognition--working memory--may moderate the relationship between inhibition deficits and urgency. One previous study found that people who practiced computerized response inhibition and working memory tasks for two weeks reported significant decreases in urgency. It is unknown if these computerized tasks would be helpful for reducing urgency in adults with psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, it is unknown if changes in urgency are related to changes in the brain mechanisms that help to support response inhibition. This study will collect data on brain activity while people are completing response inhibition tasks.

Conditions

• Impulsive Behavior
• Mental Disorders

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Cognitive Control Training	Cognitive Control Training involves daily practice with one of two computerized interventions. The first intervention is an adaptive Go/No-Go task to provide practice in the domain of response inhibition. Participants press a key as fast as possible in response to stimuli (letters of the alphabet), but must inhibit responses to a specific letter. The second intervention is an adaptive Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT), designed to practice working memory. Participants are presented with single numbers presented aurally, and must add each number they hear to the previous number and click the correct sum on the screen.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-09-11
• Primary completion: 2020-03-11
• Completion: 2020-03-11
• First posted: 2018-05-17
• Last updated: 2021-08-20
• Results posted: 2021-03-25

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States