Neural Mechanisms of CBT for Anxiety in Autism (Open Pilot Study)
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02225808. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Official title
Neural Mechanisms of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
This is an open, pilot study of neural mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition to the core symptoms, approximately forty percent of children with ASD exhibit clinically significant levels of anxiety. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a promising treatment for anxiety in children with high-functioning ASD, but the neural mechanisms of this treatment have not been studied. CBT teaches emotion regulation skills such as cognitive reappraisal, followed by behavioral exposure to anxiety-provoking situations. The investigators propose to investigate the neural mechanisms of CBT for anxiety by evaluating fMRI indices of socioemotional functioning before and after treatment in children, ages 8 to 14, with high-functioning ASD. Dysfunction of the amygdala and its connectivity with prefrontal cortex has been implicated in co-occurring ASD and anxiety. In the investigators research, compared to typically developing controls, children with ASD have shown lower activation in several regions of prefrontal cortex and a lack of down-regulation in the amygdala during a task of emotion regulation. Based on these observations, the investigators propose that a positive response to CBT for anxiety in children with ASD will be associated with increased activation of several regions in the prefrontal cortex as well as increased functional connectivity between prefrontal regions the amygdala during the task of emotion regulation. The primary aim of this pilot study is to examine the effects of CBT on the neural basis of anxiety in ASD by collecting fMRI data during emotion regulation, face perception, and rest before and after treatment. The investigators hypothesize that CBT will increase prefrontal activity, decrease amygdala reactivity, and enhance amygdala-prefrontal functional connectivity during emotion regulation. The investigators also hypothesize that CBT will decrease amygdala reactivity during perception of emotional faces. Additional analyses will be conducted to explore change in resting-state functional connectivity before and after CBT for anxiety in children with ASD.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT02225808
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 10 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 8 Years to 14 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Jul 31, 2014
- Primary completion
- Nov 30, 2016
- Completion
- Nov 30, 2016
- Last update posted
- Jan 13, 2020
2014 – 2016
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale School of Medicine, Child Study Center | New Haven | Connecticut | 06520 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT02225808, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jan 13, 2020 · Synced Sep 20, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT02225808 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.