RECRUITING

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Aging and Stress on Prospective Navigation

Study Overview

This clinical trial focuses on testing the efficacy of different digital interventions to promote re-engagement in cancer-related long-term follow-up care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Description

Two hallmarks of both healthy aging and age-related disease are 1) memory and navigational deficits, particularly in orienting towards goal locations and planning how to navigate to them, and 2) increased susceptibility to stress and altered regulation of the stress response. However, there are marked individual differences in these age-related changes. The investigators' proposal will help characterize factors that contribute to this variability. Participants will be pseudorandomly assigned to stress-manipulated or control groups. The investigators will give both groups a novel immersive navigation task, validated by the PI in healthy young adults. This paradigm gives participants the opportunity to either (a) flexibly draw on spatial memory in order to plan efficient routes to goal locations, or (b) fall back on inefficient, but cognitively less-demanding, stimulus-response associations (i.e., habits). Using neuroimaging and behavioral measures, the investigators' protocol will test whether experimentally-induced stress leads individuals to bring fewer details about future locations to mind when route planning, and whether such restricted prospective thought ultimately biases participants towards relatively inflexible, habitual actions.

Official Title

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Aging and Stress on Prospective Navigation

Quick Facts

Study Start:2019-09-24
Study Completion:2025-06-01
Study Type:Not specified
Phase:Not Applicable
Enrollment:Not specified
Status:RECRUITING

Study ID

NCT03896529

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Ages Eligible for Study:65 Years to 80 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:Yes
Standard Ages:OLDER_ADULT
Inclusion CriteriaExclusion Criteria
  1. * adults 65-80
  2. * U.S. citizens or permanent residents
  3. * who speak fluent English
  4. * willing to come to Georgia Tech to participate in group testing sessions.
  1. * Individuals will be carefully screened using IRB-approved procedures for safety contraindications to MRI and electrical shock stimulation
  2. * (e.g., metal or electrical implants, heart arrhythmia, or medication affecting the cardiovascular system \[e.g. beta-blockers\]).
  3. * Epilepsy
  4. * Dementia
  5. * Parkinson's disease
  6. * history of stroke or seizure
  7. * psychiatric disorders
  8. * untreated depression or emotional conditions
  9. * Attention Deficit Disorder
  10. * Multiple Sclerosis
  11. * uncontrolled hyper- or hypo-tension
  12. * untreated Diabetes
  13. * Sickle Cell Anemia
  14. * regularly use illegal or psychoactive drugs (e.g., cocaine, alcohol abuse, etc).
  15. * Additionally, individuals scoring \< 3 on WAIS-R forward span, \< 2 on WAIS-R backward span, and failing to name more than 2 vegetable names will be excluded from the study. These exclusions will insure that persons with mild cognitive impairment or typical indications of clinical dementia will be not participate in the research.

Contacts and Locations

Study Contact

Thackery I Brown, Ph.D.
CONTACT
404-894-1123
thackery.brown@psych.gatech.edu
Scott Moffat, Ph.D.
CONTACT
404-894-6772
scott.moffat@psych.gatech.edu

Principal Investigator

Thackery I Brown, Ph.D.
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Georgia Institute of Technology

Study Locations (Sites)

Center for Advance Brain Imaging
Atlanta, Georgia, 30318
United States

Collaborators and Investigators

Sponsor: Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Thackery I Brown, Ph.D., PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Georgia Institute of Technology

Study Record Dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

Study Start Date2019-09-24
Study Completion Date2025-06-01

Study Record Updates

Study Start Date2019-09-24
Study Completion Date2025-06-01

Terms related to this study

Keywords Provided by Researchers

  • Aging
  • Spatial Memory
  • Stress
  • fMRI

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

  • Aging
  • Anxiety
  • Memory Impairment