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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03376373

Neurotherapy to Promote Emotion Recognition in Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, more prevalent than previously thought and heterogeneous in expression, though uniformly characterized by severe social disability. The social disability that defines ASD pervades other areas of adaptive behavior, is predictive of secondary mental health problems, and adversely affects long-term outcome. Although ASD is a chronic condition, there has been little research on interventions for adults with ASD. This study proposes to first establish the neural plasticity of specific brain mechanisms underlying difficulties with facial emotion recognition, a core deficit believed to be pivotal in the behavioral expression of ASD-social disability. The investigators will then develop a novel, computer-based intervention using real-time feedback, to the user, to ameliorate emotion recognition deficits.

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Key information

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder Child Development Disorders, Pervasive Mental Disorders Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Age range

16 year–29 year

Sex eligibility

Male

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Child Study Center

Blacksburg, Virginia, United States

About this study

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to have difficulty in the recognition of facial emotion. Such deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER) are thought to cause or exacerbate social disability in ASD by preventing 1) accurate detection of social/emotional information conveyed through the face and, subsequently 2) the deployment of emotionally appropriate responses. Consistent with this model, FER deficits are correlated with social disability in ASD and confer morbidity above and beyond core symptoms.

The long-term goal is to understand how FER networks can be manipulated for therapeutic and preventative purposes. In this trial, investigators are testing the feasibility of an intervention that capitalizes on our previously developed brain-computer interface (BCI) to promote FER in a mixed virtual reality world. The new "FER Assistant" tool (deployed on a tablet - iPad) is intended to aid users in detecting emotions and intents of 'avatars' inhabiting a virtual world, and will provide users with a highly realistic testbed for practicing FER skills in concert with BCI.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • diagnosis of ASD

Exclusion criteria

  • No severe psychopathology which warrants other immediate treatment

Treatment and study plan

Neurofeedback

Behavioral

real-time feedback on accuracy of emotion recognition

Primary outcomes

  1. facial emotion recognition (RMET)

    Time frame: 5 weeks

    Change in facial emotion recognition 5 weeks after baseline appointment

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Dec 18, 2017
Registry last updated
Sep 16, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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