Cognitive Training for PTSD
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03316196. 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.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Cognitive Training as a Novel Neuroscience-based Treatment for PTSD
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic, disabling condition that occurs in a subgroup of individuals after experiencing traumatic stress, and is common in Veterans seeking mental health treatment at the VA. Although evidence-based psychosocial treatments exist for PTSD, a substantial portion of individuals do not fully respond to treatment. Thus, there is a clear need to continue researching novel interventions for PTSD in Veterans. Recently, new interventions for mental health disorders have utilized computerized cognitive training techniques in order to improve the functioning of cognitive systems and reduce symptoms. This type of intervention, often referred to as neurotherapeutics, may hold promise for PTSD as a method for ameliorating symptoms and improving cognition. Individuals with PTSD demonstrate difficulties with cognitive control functions, which appear to be causally implicated in symptoms of the disorder (e.g., intrusive trauma-related memories). To date the efficacy of neurotherapeutics for PTSD has been understudied in Veterans. The current proposal aims to bridge research on basic neurocognitive mechanisms of PTSD with intervention research by conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a cognitive control training program in 80 Veterans with PTSD. Veterans will complete computer-based training exercises designed to specifically target and improve aspects of cognitive control. Veterans will complete the program twice per week for eight weeks. Symptoms will be assessed before and after treatment, as well as at a two month follow up time point. The primary goal of the study is to examine the effect of the intervention on PTSD symptoms and cognitive deficits. Evaluating symptom change as a result of the intervention will provide critical data regarding the utility of this program as a PTSD treatment. If effective, this training program could serve as alternative treatment option for Veterans with PTSD, and could be translated into an easily transportable intervention for dissemination (e.g., through web-based platforms). A secondary goal is to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to better understand the mechanisms by which cognitive training culminates in symptom reduction. If training cognitive control with neurotherapeutics directly enhances functioning of specific neural substrates as hypothesized, improvements in affective processes relying on shared neural regions would also be predicted. Modifying functioning in these substrates with training may thus reduce symptoms by improving neural functioning while processing and managing trauma-related affect and information. Neural systems used for cognitive control targeted in the training described (e.g., dorsolateral prefrontal cortex \[dlPFC\]) are also recruited when individuals mentally manipulate emotional information, such as when individuals use reappraisal to change the way that they think about negative emotional situations or content. In this study, Veterans will complete a neutral cognitive control task and a reappraisal task while undergoing fMRI before and after completing the training treatment. This will be the first study to evaluate neurobiological mechanisms of this type of training in PTSD, which is a fundamental next step for understanding how to improve the training program and who may be best served by completing it.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03316196
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 81 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- COGENT COGNITIVE TRAINING Behavioral
- Non training computer condition Behavioral
Behavioral
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 21 Years to 55 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
- Jun 12, 2018
- Primary completion
- May 30, 2023
- Completion
- May 30, 2023
- Last update posted
- Sep 18, 2024
2018 – 2023
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA | San Diego | California | 92161-0002 | — |
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 NCT03316196, 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 Sep 18, 2024 · Synced Sep 1, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03316196 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.