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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01747811

Effects of Bright Light Therapy in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) or "concussions" are an increasingly prevalent injury in our society. Patients with post-concussion syndrome have been shown to have deficits on tests of short term memory, divided attention, multi-tasking, information processing speed, and reaction time, as well as alteration in mood and emotional functioning. Many patients have other vague complaints including fatigue, dizziness, irritability, sleep disturbances, and chronic headaches. Furthermore, sleep disruption of one of the most common complaints in patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries, with as many as 40 to 65% of patients with mTBI complaining of insomnia. Sleep problems in these patients are associated with poorer outcome, while resolution of the sleep disturbance is associated with improvement in cognitive functioning.

Despite recent evidence of the correlation between sleep quality and recovery from traumatic brain injury, and the well-established role of sleep in neural plasticity and neurogenesis, there have been virtually no direct studies of the causal effects of sleep on recovery following mTBI. However, it is quite likely that sleep plays a critical role in recovery following brain injury.

A particularly promising non-pharmacologic approach that shows potential in improving/modifying abnormalities of the circadian rhythm and sleep-wake schedule is bright light therapy. For the proposed investigation, we hypothesize that bright light therapy may be helpful in improving the sleep of patients with a recent history of mTBI and may also have other mood elevating effects, both of which should promote positive treatment outcome in these individuals. Bright light therapy may increase the likelihood that they will recover more quickly, benefit more extensively from other forms of therapy, and build emotional and cognitive resilience.

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Key information

Conditions

Concussion, Mild Brain Concussion Brain Diseases Brain Injuries Brain Injuries, Traumatic Central Nervous System Diseases Craniocerebral Trauma Head Injuries, Closed Mental Disorders Nervous System Diseases Parasomnias Post-Concussion Symptoms Post-Concussion Syndrome Sleep Problems Sleep Wake Disorders Trauma, Nervous System Wounds and Injuries Wounds, Nonpenetrating

Age range

18 year–50 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Arizona Medical Center

Tucson, Arizona, 85724, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Age range between 18 and 50.
  • Subjects must be right handed.
  • The primary language of the subjects must be English.
  • Subjects have experienced a "concussion" or mTBI within the preceding 18 months, but no sooner that 4 weeks prior to their screening. The occurrence of a concussion or mTBI must be documented by a medical report or other professional witness documentation.
  • If documented, Glasgow Coma Scale in the range of 13-15 following the injury.
  • Subjects must have complaints of sleep difficulties that emerged or worsened following the most recent head injury.
  • At least half of subjects must have evidence of sleep onset insomnia or delayed sleep phase disorder.

Exclusion criteria

  • Any other history of neurological illness, current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) Axis I disorder, lifetime history of psychotic disorder, or head injury with loss of consciousness > 30 minutes
  • Complicating medical conditions that may influence the outcome of neuropsychological assessment or functional imaging (e.g., HIV, brain tumor, etc.)
  • Mixed or left-handedness
  • Abnormal visual acuity that is not corrected by contact lenses
  • Contraindicated conditions noted by the manufacture of the light device such as the use of photosynthesizing medications, history of cataract surgery, and pre-existing eye conditions.
  • Metal within the body, claustrophobia, or other contraindications for neuroimaging
  • Less than 9th grade education
  • Excess current alcohol use (more than 2 instances of intake of 5+ drinks (men) when or 4+ drinks (women) when drinking in the past two months, and/or on average drinking > 2 drinks per day (men); > 1 drinks per day (women) during the past two months
  • History of alcoholism or substance use disorder
  • Significant use of illicit drugs
  • History of marijuana use within the past 6 weeks, use of marijuana before the age of 16, and/or use of > 20 marijuana cigarettes throughout the participant's lifetime.
  • Subjects who engage in shift-work, night work, or who have substantially desynchronized work-sleep schedules (i.e., sleeping later than 10:00 a.m. more than once a week) will be excluded

Treatment and study plan

wavelength-1 bright light

Device

6 weeks of daily light exposure, 30 minutes per morning

Other names: Philips goLITE energy light

wavelength-2 bright light

Device

6 weeks of daily light exposure, 30 minutes per morning

Other names: Philips goLITE energy light

Primary outcomes

  1. Performance on Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT)

    Time frame: Change from baseline performance at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    The MSLT is a objective measure of sleepiness. Participants will take a brief nap 3 times during the 1st and second visit. The period of time between wake and sleep onset will be utilized as an objective measure of sleepiness (in minutes). A mean value will be calculated for the entirety of the pre-treatment napping periods and for the post treatment visits.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Neural Activation During Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Executive Function Task

    Time frame: Change from baseline performance at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    Change from baseline in left prefrontal cortical response during a multi source interference task at six weeks. Methods utilized to assess activity in the left prefrontal cortex/inferior frontal operculum included a regions of interest analysis.

  2. Score on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is a self report measure of sleep quality. The overall score takes into account many different facets of sleep, such as sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, etc. The scores range from 0-21, and any score that is equal to or greater than 5 is indicative of poor sleep quality.

  3. Actigraphy-measured Sleep Quality

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    Actigraphy is an objective measure that determines sleep vs. wake. It is a watch with an accelerometer worn on the wrist. Sleep quality is determined by the amount of time in bed divided by the amount of time sleeping (in minutes).

  4. Performance on Neuropsychological Assessment

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a neuropsychological assessment that measures different facets of memory including the following: immediate memory, visuospatial/constructional, language, attention, and delayed memory. This is given to all participants on both pre and post treatment visits. The total range for this scale is 40-160. Lower values represent a worse outcome, and higher values represent an improved outcome.

Other outcomes

  1. Change From Baseline in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) Scores at 6 Weeks

    Time frame: Change from baseline at 6 weeks (post-treatment)

    The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) is a self report scale utilized for measuring the severity of depression. Scores can range from 0-63 (0 meaning minimal depressive symptoms, and 63 being severe depressive symptoms). Participants are given this on baseline and post treatment.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Arizona

Other

Collaborators

  • U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity

Registry information

Official study title

Effects of Bright Light Therapy of Sleep, Cognition, Brain Function, and Neurochemistry in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Important dates

Study start
2010
Primary completion
2013
Study completion
2013
First posted
Dec 12, 2012
Registry last updated
Jun 1, 2017

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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