Neurofeedback for Internet Gaming Addiction

Internet Gaming Disorder Clinical Trial

Official title:

Real-time Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Neurofeedback Treatment for Young Adults With Internet Gaming Addiction

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06063642
• Other study ID #: BSERE23-APP004-ICI
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 15, 2023
• Est. completion date: June 1, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: September 2023
• Source: University of Macau
• Contact: Zhiying Zhao, Ph.D
• Phone: (853) 8822 9182
• Email: zhiyingzhao[@]um.edu.mo
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic potential of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neurofeedback in alleviating internet gaming disorder (IGD) symptoms by training individuals with such symptoms to down-regulate the activity in their reward-processing-related midbrain regions.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 20
• Est. completion date: June 1, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: April 20, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 28 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Meet at least five of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition (DSM-5) criteria for IGD and score 38 or above on the Internet Addiction Test (IAT)
• First language is Chinese (Mandarin)
• Right-handed
• Have played the mobile game "King of Glory" for more than 3 years
• Ability to give informed consent
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any primary diagnosis of a current psychological or neurological disorder
• Any history of psychological or neurological disorder
• Any MRI contraindication
• Currently on a psychotropic medication
• Any history of substance dependence
• Any history of brain injury or surgery

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Behavior, Addictive
• Internet Gaming Disorder

Intervention

Device:
• Neurofeedback training
Neurofeedback training is a type of non-invasive brain modulation technique that enables individuals to self-regulate brain activity patterns by providing them feedback on specific activity measures. Effective self-regulation is often linked to changes in cognition, behavior, and clinical symptoms.
• Sham feedback training
A controlled form of neurofeedback training that provides feedback irrelevant to the targeted mental process.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Macau	Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau	Taipa

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Macau

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Macau, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change from Baseline in self-reported urge for internet gaming as assessed by Visual Analog Scales (1 to 100)		Up to 30 days after the intervention session
Secondary	Change in reward-related activity during exposure to internet gaming videos	Participants will complete cue-reactivity tasks in which they are exposed to video clips captured from the dependent mobile game before and after the intervention. Functional MRI data will be collected to measure their pre- to post-intervention changes in the brain reward processing pathways.	Up to 3 days
Secondary	Change in inhibitory response in the affective Go/Nogo task	This task that uses affective Chinese characters as stimuli will be used to examine changes in inhibitory control performance as well as changes in brain activity associated with this cognitive process pre- to post-intervention.	Up to 3 days