Neurofeedback for Internet Gaming Addiction

Sponsor

University of Macau (Other)

Overall Status

Not yet recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT06063642

Collaborator

(none)

Enrollment

Arms

7.6

Anticipated Duration (Months)

Study Details

Study Description

Brief 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.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Internet Gaming Disorder	Device: Neurofeedback training Device: Sham feedback training	N/A

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Anticipated Enrollment :

20 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Intervention Model Description:

Eligible candidates will be randomly assigned to either receive the experimental feedback intervention or sham feedback intervention.Eligible candidates will be randomly assigned to either receive the experimental feedback intervention or sham feedback intervention.

Masking:

Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking Description:

All participants will be blind to the intervention group assignment until they complete the entire study procedure. An outcome assessor who is blind to this assignment will collect the primary outcome measurement data.

Primary Purpose:

Treatment

Official Title:

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

Anticipated Study Start Date :

Oct 15, 2023

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Apr 20, 2024

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Jun 1, 2024

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Experimental neurofeedback intervention In an approximately 30-minute training session, participants receive activity feedback from a midbrain region involved in reward processing and gaming addiction. Feedback will be presented in the form of a thermometer/bar in the middle of the screen and updated every two seconds. They will be trained to down-regulate the activity in this region with the help of this feedback using cognitive strategies. This down-regulation training is believed to be beneficial to addictive behaviors by the investigators.	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 Comparator: Sham feedback intervention In an approximately 30-minute training session, participants receive activity feedback from a brain region irrelevant to reward processing or gaming addictive behavior. The feedback presentation form and task instructions will be the same as for the experimental group. Based on the functional role of the feedback region, the investigators do not believe this feedback training will change the addictive behaviors of the participants who receive this intervention.	Device: Sham feedback training A controlled form of neurofeedback training that provides feedback irrelevant to the targeted mental process.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: Experimental neurofeedback intervention

In an approximately 30-minute training session, participants receive activity feedback from a midbrain region involved in reward processing and gaming addiction. Feedback will be presented in the form of a thermometer/bar in the middle of the screen and updated every two seconds. They will be trained to down-regulate the activity in this region with the help of this feedback using cognitive strategies. This down-regulation training is believed to be beneficial to addictive behaviors by the investigators.

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 Comparator: Sham feedback intervention

In an approximately 30-minute training session, participants receive activity feedback from a brain region irrelevant to reward processing or gaming addictive behavior. The feedback presentation form and task instructions will be the same as for the experimental group. Based on the functional role of the feedback region, the investigators do not believe this feedback training will change the addictive behaviors of the participants who receive this intervention.

Device: Sham feedback training

A controlled form of neurofeedback training that provides feedback irrelevant to the targeted mental process.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

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 Outcome Measures

Change in reward-related activity during exposure to internet gaming videos [Up to 3 days]
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.
Change in inhibitory response in the affective Go/Nogo task [Up to 3 days]
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.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 28 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

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

Contacts and Locations

Locations

No locations specified.

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of Macau

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

University of Macau

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT06063642

Other Study ID Numbers:

BSERE23-APP004-ICI

First Posted:

Oct 2, 2023

Last Update Posted:

Oct 2, 2023

Last Verified:

Sep 1, 2023

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:

Keywords provided by University of Macau

neurofeedback

behavior addiction

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Behavior, Addictive

Internet Addiction Disorder

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Oct 2, 2023