Neurobiological Mechanisms of Chess as an Add-On Treatment Against SUD

NCT ID: NCT04057534

Last Updated: 2024-03-29

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

108 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-04-01

Study Completion Date

2023-11-17

Brief Summary

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Neurobiological and neuropsychological approaches to investigate the potential mechanism of action of chess as an add-on therapy (chess based - cognitive remediation treatment, CB-CRT) to reduce cognitive deficits in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or tobacco use disorder (TUD).

Detailed Description

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The study aims to investigate the potential mechanism of action of chess as a "chess based - cognitive remediation treatment, CB-CRT" to reduce cognitive deficits in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) seeking treatment using neurobiological and neuropsychological approaches. Furthermore, it will be assessed whether this chess intervention has a generalized positive effect on short-term abstinence. Interestingly, the functional domains and associated underlying neuronal networks observed to be affected in individuals with SUD overlap significantly with those that could be strengthened by chess-based cognitive training or formal chess. Specifically, strengthening of cortical control regions (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, DLPFC) and brain areas relevant for decision-making (orbitofrontal cortex, OFC) could prevent future relapse. Therefore, chess as an add-on therapy to complement other standard treatments of SUD could lead to improved therapeutic outcomes.

Conditions

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Substance Use Disorders

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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CB-CRT AUD group

experimental group AUD: patients receive standard clinical therapy and an add-on chess based - cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT)

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Standard therapy for AUD plus Chess-based cognitive treatment

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: standard AUD Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Clinical setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified detoxification treatment program will be examined, either in-patient, out-patient, or in a day-clinic setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week. The tasks of the treatment were created by our cooperation partner, the psychologist Juan Antonio Montero. He is currently successfully applying this battery as an add-on therapy. The training battery is designed to strengthen cognitive functioning in specific domains such as short-term memory, focal attention, selective attention, pattern recognition, visuospatial abilities, metacognition and also inhibition.

Control group AUD

control group: patients with AUD receive standard clinical therapy

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Standard therapy for AUD

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: standard AUD Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Clinical setting. Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified detoxification treatment program will be examined, either in-patient, out-patient, or in a day-clinic setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine.

CB-CRT TUD group

experimental group TUD: patients receive standard smoking cessation therapy and an add-on CB-CRT

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD plus Chess-based cognitive treatment

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD in group therapy setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified smoking cessation program will be examined in an out-patient setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. They receive a six-week standard therapy (one 1,5 hours group therapy per week). Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week. The tasks of the treatment were created by our cooperation partner, the psychologist Juan Antonio Montero. He is currently successfully applying this battery as an add-on therapy. The training battery is designed to strengthen cognitive functioning in specific domains such as short-term memory, focal attention, selective attention, pattern recognition, visuospatial abilities, metacognition and also inhibition.

Control group TUD

control group: patients with TUD receive standard smoking cessation therapy

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Standard therapy for TUD

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD in group therapy setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified smokind cessation program will be examined in an out-patient setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. They receive a six-week standard therapy (one 1,5 hours group therapy per week). Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week.

Interventions

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Standard therapy for AUD plus Chess-based cognitive treatment

Behavioral: standard AUD Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Clinical setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified detoxification treatment program will be examined, either in-patient, out-patient, or in a day-clinic setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week. The tasks of the treatment were created by our cooperation partner, the psychologist Juan Antonio Montero. He is currently successfully applying this battery as an add-on therapy. The training battery is designed to strengthen cognitive functioning in specific domains such as short-term memory, focal attention, selective attention, pattern recognition, visuospatial abilities, metacognition and also inhibition.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard therapy for AUD

Behavioral: standard AUD Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Clinical setting. Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified detoxification treatment program will be examined, either in-patient, out-patient, or in a day-clinic setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD plus Chess-based cognitive treatment

Behavioral: standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD in group therapy setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified smoking cessation program will be examined in an out-patient setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. They receive a six-week standard therapy (one 1,5 hours group therapy per week). Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week. The tasks of the treatment were created by our cooperation partner, the psychologist Juan Antonio Montero. He is currently successfully applying this battery as an add-on therapy. The training battery is designed to strengthen cognitive functioning in specific domains such as short-term memory, focal attention, selective attention, pattern recognition, visuospatial abilities, metacognition and also inhibition.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard therapy for TUD

Behavioral: standard smoking cessation therapy for TUD in group therapy setting.

Patients who voluntarily submit to enter a qualified smokind cessation program will be examined in an out-patient setting at the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine. They receive a six-week standard therapy (one 1,5 hours group therapy per week). Additional, the experimental group receives chess based cognitive remediation treatment (CB-CRT) for 1,5 hours three times a week.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* severe alcohol (AUD) or tabacco use disorder (SUD) according to DSM-5
* abstinence from alcohol for at least 72 hours (AUD)
* sufficient ability to communicate with investigators and answer questions in both written and verbal format
* ability to provide fully informed consent and to use self-rating scales
* main diagnosis AUD: inpatient or outpatient treatment in our clinic
* main diagnosis TUD: participation in 6 weeks smoking cessation treatment
* Normal or corrected to normal vision
* Signed consents for data security

Exclusion Criteria

* severe internal, neurological, and/or psychiatric comorbidities; other Axis I mental disorders other than TUD according to ICD-10 and DSM 5 (except for other substance use disorders - if AUD or TUD is still the main diagnosis -, ADHD, remitted depression, mild or moderate depression, adjustment disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder or other mild or moderate personality disorders) in the last 12 months
* Severe withdrawal symptoms (CIWA-Ar \> 7; Sullivan et al. 1989)
* alcohol intoxication (\>0‰)
* history of brain injury
* severe cognitive impairments
* suicidality or endangerment of others
* positive Covid-19 screening
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Sabine Vollstädt-Klein, Prof. Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim

Locations

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Klinik für Abhängiges Verhalten, Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit

Mannheim, , Germany

Site Status

Countries

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Germany

References

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Adinoff B. Neurobiologic processes in drug reward and addiction. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2004 Nov-Dec;12(6):305-20. doi: 10.1080/10673220490910844.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15764467 (View on PubMed)

Fauth-Buhler M, de Rover M, Rubia K, Garavan H, Abbott S, Clark L, Vollstadt-Klein S, Mann K, Schumann G, Robbins TW. Brain networks subserving fixed versus performance-adjusted delay stop trials in a stop signal task. Behav Brain Res. 2012 Nov 1;235(1):89-97. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.07.023. Epub 2012 Jul 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22820235 (View on PubMed)

Amidzic O, Riehle HJ, Fehr T, Wienbruch C, Elbert T. Pattern of focal gamma-bursts in chess players. Nature. 2001 Aug 9;412(6847):603. doi: 10.1038/35088119. No abstract available.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 11493907 (View on PubMed)

Atherton M, Zhuang J, Bart WM, Hu X, He S. A functional MRI study of high-level cognition. I. The game of chess. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003 Mar;16(1):26-31. doi: 10.1016/s0926-6410(02)00207-0.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 12589885 (View on PubMed)

Bates ME, Buckman JF, Nguyen TT. A role for cognitive rehabilitation in increasing the effectiveness of treatment for alcohol use disorders. Neuropsychol Rev. 2013 Mar;23(1):27-47. doi: 10.1007/s11065-013-9228-3. Epub 2013 Feb 15.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 23412885 (View on PubMed)

Blasco-Fontecilla H, Gonzalez-Perez M, Garcia-Lopez R, Poza-Cano B, Perez-Moreno MR, de Leon-Martinez V, Otero-Perez J. Efficacy of chess training for the treatment of ADHD: A prospective, open label study. Rev Psiquiatr Salud Ment. 2016 Jan-Mar;9(1):13-21. doi: 10.1016/j.rpsm.2015.02.003. Epub 2015 Apr 22. English, Spanish.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 25911280 (View on PubMed)

Demily C, Cavezian C, Desmurget M, Berquand-Merle M, Chambon V, Franck N. The game of chess enhances cognitive abilities in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2009 Jan;107(1):112-3. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2008.09.024. Epub 2008 Nov 7. No abstract available.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 18995990 (View on PubMed)

Fattahi F, Geshani A, Jafari Z, Jalaie S, Salman Mahini M. Auditory memory function in expert chess players. Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2015 Oct 6;29:275. eCollection 2015.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 26793666 (View on PubMed)

Goncalves PD, Ometto M, Bechara A, Malbergier A, Amaral R, Nicastri S, Martins PA, Beraldo L, dos Santos B, Fuentes D, Andrade AG, Busatto GF, Cunha PJ. Motivational interviewing combined with chess accelerates improvement in executive functions in cocaine dependent patients: a one-month prospective study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2014 Aug 1;141:79-84. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.05.006. Epub 2014 May 24.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 24913200 (View on PubMed)

Onofrj M, Curatola L, Valentini G, Antonelli M, Thomas A, Fulgente T. Non-dominant dorsal-prefrontal activation during chess problem solution evidenced by single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT). Neurosci Lett. 1995 Oct 6;198(3):169-72. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(95)11985-6.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 8552313 (View on PubMed)

Vollstadt-Klein S, Wichert S, Rabinstein J, Buhler M, Klein O, Ende G, Hermann D, Mann K. Initial, habitual and compulsive alcohol use is characterized by a shift of cue processing from ventral to dorsal striatum. Addiction. 2010 Oct;105(10):1741-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03022.x.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 20670348 (View on PubMed)

Lally N, Huys QJM, Eshel N, Faulkner P, Dayan P, Roiser JP. The Neural Basis of Aversive Pavlovian Guidance during Planning. J Neurosci. 2017 Oct 18;37(42):10215-10229. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0085-17.2017. Epub 2017 Sep 18.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 28924006 (View on PubMed)

Gerhardt S, Lex G, Holzammer J, Karl D, Wieland A, Schmitt R, Recuero AJ, Montero JA, Weber T, Vollstadt-Klein S. Effects of chess-based cognitive remediation training as therapy add-on in alcohol and tobacco use disorders: protocol of a randomised, controlled clinical fMRI trial. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 6;12(9):e057707. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057707.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 36691127 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Chess_SUD

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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