Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT03183453

Neuropsychological Rehabilitation of Spontaneous Confabulation: a Replica Study

Confabulators consistently generate false memories without intention to deceive and with great feeling of rightness. However, there is currently no known effective treatment for them. In order to fill this gap, we performed a neuropsychological treatment in two groups of confabulators: experimental vs. control (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02540772).

Now, we intend to replicate the treatment with a larger sample of confabulators and with other two control groups: non-confabulator patients with brain injury and healthy individuals

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Memory Disorders Nervous System Diseases Neurobehavioral Manifestations Neurologic Manifestations Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Signs and Symptoms

Age range

35 year–80 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

San Rafael University Hospital

Granada, 18001, Spain

About this study

The treatment consisted of some brief material that patients had to learn and recall at both immediate and delayed moments. After both recollections, patients were given feedback about their performance (errors and correct responses). Pre-treatment and post-treatment measurements were administered.

Non-confabulator patients and healthy participants performed only the pre-treatment measurement.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • The presence of spontaneous confabulations after acute brain injury, for at least three months and without clinical improvement (interfering with the patient's daily life with frequent arguments and exhaustive supervision).
  • The presence of momentary confabulations in the Spanish adaptation of Dalla Barba provoked confabulation interview.
  • Prior to injury, all patients should be completely independent for daily living.

Exclusion criteria

  • The presence of impairment in alertness.
  • Dementia.
  • Acute confusional state.
  • A history of drug abuse.
  • Psychiatric antecedents.

Treatment and study plan

Neuropsychological treatment

Behavioral

Participants had to learn some brief material (words, faces, pictures, news), after which they were asked for an immediate and a delayed recall. After both recalls, participants were confronted with feedback about correct responses, non-responses and errors (i.e., confabulations and errors of attribution). This type of feedback worked on: 1) selective attention during the learning phase, training patients to focus on the relevant details of the stimuli; 2) monitoring processes during the retrieval phase, reinforcing the strategic search and training patients to inhibit traces that were irrelevant; and 3) memory control processes after the retrieval phase. The treatment consisted of 9 sessions and lasted for 3 weeks and the participants performed a baseline before and after treatment.

Other names: Confabulations treatment

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in the number of Confabulations

    Time frame: A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

    The confabulations recorded were 1) guessed answers, 2) confusions in time and space, 3) a mixture of two or more stimuli presented, and 4) devised or bizarre responses.

    Scores ranged from 0 (no confabulations) to unlimited number of them (because devised or bizarre responses were recorded) and consisted of the sum of all the confabulations produced during the 3 sessions.

  2. Change in the number of correct responses

    Time frame: A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

    Scores ranged from 0 (no correct answers) to 72 (12 stimuli remembered twice in each session: firstly, in a immediate recall after learning, and secondly, in a delayed recall after 10 minutes).

  3. Change in the number of non-responses

    Time frame: A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

    Scores ranged from 0 (no non-responses) to 72 (12 stimuli remembered twice in each session: firstly, in a immediate recall after learning, and secondly, in a delayed recall after 10 minutes).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in the number of errors in source attribution

    Time frame: A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

    After the recall of the material, patients were also asked to remember which modality corresponded to each recall (i.e., seen, heard or imagined), and who had presented the material during the learning session (i.e., the therapist or themselves).

    Scores ranged from 0 (if all answers were non-responses) to unlimited number (depending on number of confabulations produced by patients).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Monica Triviño Mosquera

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Replica Study of a Neuropsychological Treatment for Patients Who Show Spontaneous Confabulation After Acquired Brain Injury

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2018
First posted
Jun 12, 2017
Registry last updated
May 29, 2018

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.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.