NCT03858933

Train Your Brain: Neurofeedback Intervention for PTSD

Train Your Brain: A Neurofeedback Intervention for Individuals With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 72 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Southern California · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The investigator's aim is to evaluate the efficacy of two types of neurofeedback treatments for PTSD symptoms reduction. Half of the participants will receive the current standard for PTSD neurofeedback care undergoing alpha/theta neurofeedback regulation. The other half will receive the newly developed limbic modulation index neurofeedback.

Detailed description

Traumatic stress is commonly resistant to existing therapeutics, possibly due to high treatment dropout rates along with a failure to target the relevant underlying neural mechanisms. Neuromodulation of deep limbic areas such as the amygdala may play a critical role in the effective recovery from traumatic stress. Human studies have shown the importance of such modulation during the encoding of traumatic stimuli, showing greater amygdala activation for subsequently remembered traumatic stimuli. In addition, a prospective study among previously healthy soldiers showed that hyper-activation of the amygdala prior to military traumatic exposure corresponded with more severe post-traumatic symptoms following exposure. Together these finding points to the amygdala as a plausible neuromodulation target for preventive or early interventions of post-traumatic disturbances. Local neuromodulation of the amygdala could improve treatment specificity and the overall intervention outcome. The main goal of the suggested research is to further develop and implement a non-invasive, portable and cost-effective brain-imaging tool that will provide individual on-line guidance for amygdala modulation. This closed-loop brain training will enhance individual resilience to and coping with potentially traumatic stress as well as alleviate consequential psychopathologies.

Conditions

• Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	eBrainFit Platform	Alpha/Theta regulation with eyes open
DEVICE	eBrainFit Platform	Amygdala regulation with eyes open

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-04-19
• Primary completion: 2020-03-14
• Completion: 2020-12-31
• First posted: 2019-03-01
• Last updated: 2021-08-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States