Neurophysiological Correlates of Exposition Therapy in Spider Phobia
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 入组人数
- 40
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- fNIRS
研究概览
简要总结
This study aims to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of spider phobia and its treatment with CBT based Exposure Therapy. This is the first study to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of Exposure Therapy in situ by means of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS).
30 spider phobic patients will be assessed and randomly allocated to 5 sessions of exposure therapy or waiting-list. Further, 30 non-phobic control subjects will be assessed (primary assessment only).
During Exposure Therapy, changes in blood oxygenation will be measured with fNIRS in areas of the Cognitive Control Network. Regions of interest are the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and somatosensory association cortex (SAC). Before the treatment, subjects will have one session of psychoeducation in which the rationale for the treatment is explained. In each therapy session subjects are exposed to 20 trials (each lasting 40s) of guided exposure by a psychotherapist. Further, 20 control trials of equal length are assessed in which subjects work with an earthworm. During the therapy additional anxiety coping strategies (e.g., controlled breathing, attention refocusing, cognitive reappraisal) are trained. After the treatment or waiting-list phase, treatment conditions are switched: The waiting list will be treated and the treated subject will wait for approximately 6 weeks.
Before treatment (primary assessment), after treatment (secondary assessment) and after study completion (final assessment), additional combined NIRS EEG measurements are done. On a peripheral physiological level heart rate and EMG of the facial corrugator supercilii are measured. During these measurements subjects are asked to watch 10s lasting video clips showing spiders (experimental condition) or pets (dogs and cats). On a psychometric level, spider phobia will be assessed by questionnaires (SPQ, FSQ, SBQ) and behavioral assessments.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Crossover
- 主要目的
- Basic Science
- 盲法
- None
盲法说明
Psychotherapeutic Investigation - No masking possible
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 50 Years（Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Spider Phobia or no fear of spiders
- •Age between 18 and 50
- •normal vision (or corrected with glasses)
- •German mother tongue or comparable knowledge
排除标准
- •pregnancy
- •medication with exception of contraceptive medication
- •acute or chronic disease that affects brain functioning (other mental diagnosis than spider phobia, cardial diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, concussion)
研究组 & 干预措施
Waiting-List
干预措施: Exposure Therapy (Behavioral)
Treatment
干预措施: Exposure Therapy (Behavioral)
Healthy Controls
Not randomized healthy control group for comparison to normal functioning
结局指标
主要结局
fNIRS
时间窗: Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12); During Exposure Therapy
Oxygenated and Deoxygenated Blood in the cerebral cortex will be measured with functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Analysed will be Changes in Oxygenated Blood from Pre to Post-Measurement and between Control Conditions (EarthWorm) and Experimental Conditions (Working with Spiders). At Pre-Testing, the clinical population will be compared to the healthy controls.
次要结局
- spider phobia questionnaire(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- Behavioral Measures(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- Peripheral Physiology(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- EEG/EKP(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- Fear of Spiders Questionnaire(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- Spider-Phobia-Beliefs Questionnaire(Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (final assessment, approximately week 12))
- Visual analogue scales(During each exposure session (week 1 to 5) and during EEG assessments (Before Treatment (Primary Assessment, approximately week 1), after treatment completion (secondary assessment, approximately week 6) and after study completion (approximately week 12))