A Treatment for Depression Via a Gamified Mobile Phone Application Based on a New Cognitive Model

NCT ID: NCT05685758

Last Updated: 2023-10-13

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

117 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-11-03

Study Completion Date

2023-07-31

Brief Summary

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The study is a randomized controlled treatment study comparing changes in depressive symptoms over 8 weeks between individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who have access to an FTP-based mobile phone application and a control group not engaging with the app. FTP, the process of Facilitating Thought Progression, trains the brain's cognitive thought process to expand, accelerate, and be more creative, to alleviate depressive symptoms.

Detailed Description

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This project aims to determine the effectiveness of an FTP-based mobile phone application in the alleviation of clinical symptoms of depression. In an attempt to change thought progression to be broader and more readily expansive, we had translated paradigms meant to expand thinking patterns into engaging mobile games. Our hypothesis is that the FTP-based mobile phone application will be able to decrease depressive clinical symptoms in a significant manner.

Participants meeting the inclusion criteria will be asked to play the app and undergo clinical and self-assessment evaluations regularly over the course of 8 weeks.

Conditions

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Depression Depressive Disorder Clinical Depression Major Depressive Disorder

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

One hundred and ten participants will be randomly assigned into one of the groups: the intervention group or the control group, which is a delayed intervention group (waitlist intervention). Intervention group participants will be sent a link to download an FTP-based mobile application and be asked to complete weekly surveys and monthly visits with study clinicians for 8 weeks.
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Intervention group

Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder who have access to an FTP-based mobile phone application for eight weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

FTP-based therapeutic mobile-app

Intervention Type OTHER

Participants are expected to play games within the mobile app and complete the available daily levels of 4 out of 5 games on at least 4 days per week for 8 weeks.

Control group

Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder who are on an 8-week waitlist (delayed intervention) before being offered to use the app. During the eight weeks, they will be subjected to the same questionnaires and assessments as the intervention arm.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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FTP-based therapeutic mobile-app

Participants are expected to play games within the mobile app and complete the available daily levels of 4 out of 5 games on at least 4 days per week for 8 weeks.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Consenting Adults, ages 20-50
* Able to read, understand and provide written informed consent in English
* Participants who are the sole users of an iPhone or an Android smartphone, and agree to download and use the digital mobile phone application as required by the protocol
* Participants who are comfortable using applications and games on their smartphones
* Participants with a current primary diagnosis of MDD or mild depression. MADRS≄15 and \<35
* Participants who are taking any medications which are FDA approved or used off-label for mood or anxiety should be on a stable dosage for the past 6 weeks and have no plan to change dosage during the 8 weeks they will be in the study
* Participants who are receiving therapy should have been with the same therapist for the previous 60 days and have no plan to change therapy protocol during the 8 weeks of the study

Exclusion Criteria

* Participants who have plans to change their medications which are FDA approved or used off-label for mood or anxiety or their therapy protocol during the 8 weeks of the study
* Participants who have made any changes to their therapy protocol, including starting therapy, stopping therapy, or changing providers within the past 60 days
* Participants who have made any changes to medications which are FDA-approved or used off-label for mood or anxiety in the last 6 weeks
* Participants who have used a computer, web, or smartphone software-based application for mental health or depression in the last 6 weeks
* Being at imminent risk for Suicidal behavior (via MINI)
Minimum Eligible Age

20 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

50 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Hedonia Ltd

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Paola Pedrelli

Principal Investigator: Assistant Professor Harvard Medical School, Associate Director Depression Clinical Research Program

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Paola Pedrelli, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

Locations

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Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Bar M. A cognitive neuroscience hypothesis of mood and depression. Trends Cogn Sci. 2009 Nov;13(11):456-63. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.009. Epub 2009 Oct 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19819753 (View on PubMed)

Baror S, Bar M. Associative Activation and Its Relation to Exploration and Exploitation in the Brain. Psychol Sci. 2016 Jun;27(6):776-89. doi: 10.1177/0956797616634487. Epub 2016 Apr 27.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27122295 (View on PubMed)

Fredrickson BL, Branigan C. Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cogn Emot. 2005 May 1;19(3):313-332. doi: 10.1080/02699930441000238.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21852891 (View on PubMed)

Gasper K, Clore GL. Attending to the big picture: mood and global versus local processing of visual information. Psychol Sci. 2002 Jan;13(1):34-40. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00406.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11892776 (View on PubMed)

Harel EV, Tennyson RL, Fava M, Bar M. Linking major depression and the neural substrates of associative processing. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2016 Dec;16(6):1017-1026. doi: 10.3758/s13415-016-0449-9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27553369 (View on PubMed)

Herz N, Baror S, Bar M. Overarching States of Mind. Trends Cogn Sci. 2020 Mar;24(3):184-199. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.12.015. Epub 2020 Feb 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32059121 (View on PubMed)

Mason MF, Bar M. The effect of mental progression on mood. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2012 May;141(2):217-21. doi: 10.1037/a0025035. Epub 2011 Aug 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21823806 (View on PubMed)

Patel S, Akhtar A, Malins S, Wright N, Rowley E, Young E, Sampson S, Morriss R. The Acceptability and Usability of Digital Health Interventions for Adults With Depression, Anxiety, and Somatoform Disorders: Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Jul 6;22(7):e16228. doi: 10.2196/16228.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32628116 (View on PubMed)

Thomas C, Kveraga K, Huberle E, Karnath HO, Bar M. Enabling global processing in simultanagnosia by psychophysical biasing of visual pathways. Brain. 2012 May;135(Pt 5):1578-85. doi: 10.1093/brain/aws066. Epub 2012 Mar 14.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22418740 (View on PubMed)

Yatziv SL, Pedrelli P, Baror S, DeCaro SA, Shachar N, Sofer B, Hull S, Curtiss J, Bar M. Facilitating Thought Progression to Reduce Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2024 Nov 7;26:e56201. doi: 10.2196/56201.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 39350528 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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2022P002100

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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