Machine Learning Neurofeedback for PTSD
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03482466. 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
A Virtual World/Neurofeedback Real Time Functional MRI Approach to PTSD Treatment
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
A commonly used therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that often (but not always) gives good results is "exposure therapy": When the patient (for example, Veterans who have attacks of anxiety when a noise startles them) talks about the trauma that precipitated the PTSD, she or he slowly becomes less sensitive to PTSD. This works only on some patients. The investigators propose to expose PTSD patients to a number of "training" sessions in which they will be in a virtual world (similar to a video game) driving a car through a place resembling Iraq. This will happen inside an MRI machine, and the investigators will obtain brain images while the patient is exploring the "virtual Iraq" environment. The investigators will project on the screen a bar that will let the patient know, in real time, which is the state of her or his brain, from CALM to STRESS. The job of the patient will be to try to come up with personal strategies (breathe slowly, think calming thoughts) to try to bring the bar to CALM. The investigators believe that after a number of sessions, the patient will be able to create personalized mental strategies to bring their brain to CALM state, even in real life. This could become a much stronger way of performing "exposure therapy". Finally, the investigators will use a wearable device (similar to a wristwatch) to be able to study physical activity and sleep patters in PTSD patients through the training, in the hope that the investigators may find a way to objectively study when a patient is doing better.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03482466
- Recruitment status
- Terminated
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 14 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 64 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
- Oct 31, 2018
- Primary completion
- Aug 13, 2020
- Completion
- Nov 23, 2020
- Last update posted
- Jun 27, 2024
2018 – 2020
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX | Houston | Texas | 77030 | — |
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 NCT03482466, 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 Jun 27, 2024 · Synced Sep 9, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03482466 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.