Modulating Neurocognitive Processes of Learning to Trust and Distrust in Aging (NCT05457725)
🩺 Plain-English Summary (8th-Grade Level)
Much of human interaction is based on trust. Aging has been associated with deficits in trust-related decision making, likely further exacerbated in age-associated neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's disease/AD), possibly underlying the dramatically growing public health problem of elder fraud. Optimal trust-related decision making and avoiding exploitation require the ability to learn about the trustworthiness of social partners across multiple interactions, but the role that learning plays in determining age deficits in trust decisions is currently unknown. Aim: Probe the malleability of the underlying neurocircuitry of trust-learning deficits in aging. This study will utilize real-time fMRI neurofeedback to train older adults in brain activity up-regulation toward enhanced trust-related learning in aging and confirm critical mechanisms of experience-dependent social decisions in aging. Grant R01AG072658 Aim 3: Test the malleability of trust-learning neurocircuitry toward optimized trust-related decision making in aging.
Who can join: To join this study, participants generally need to meet the listed inclusion criteria (4 items) and avoid the listed exclusions (13 items).
Location: University of Florida — Gainesville, Florida
📋 "Do I Qualify?" — 1-Minute Self Screener
Instant ChecklistCheck every box below. If you can check all of them, you may meet the study's basic screening requirements (final eligibility is confirmed by the site team).
Usually NOT eligible if any of the following apply:
- Exclusion Criteria:
- Pregnancy
- Magnetic resonance imaging contraindications (e.g., certain metallic objects in body, claustrophobia)
- Current major depression defined as scores \>14 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II
- Impaired scores on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS; cut-off of \>30)
- Current use of medications with significant anticholinergic properties due to potential influence on memory ("memory enhancing"; e.g., Aricept or Namenda)
- Current use of anticonvulsant, neuroleptic, sedatives, or other medications known to affect cognition
- Uncorrected visual and hearing impairments
- Neurologic conditions affecting the brain (e.g., severe stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury with \>30-minute loss of consciousness)
- Impaired scores on a cognitive screening measure, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); for older adults the cutoff will be age and education corrected
- Unstable medical illness (e.g., metastatic cancer)
- Significant cardiovascular conditions (e.g., major heart attack)
🔍 Extracted verbatim from the official NIH eligibility criteria. Always confirm with the study coordinator.
📍 All Participating Trial Locations (1 Sites)
- University of Florida — Gainesville, Florida
💰 Cost, Insurance & Patient Rights
- 100% Free Items: The investigational treatment and protocol-required procedures are supplied at zero cost by the sponsor.
- Routine Patient Care: Under federal law (ACA § 2709) and many state statutes, routine care costs are covered during participation.
- Voluntary Participation: You may withdraw at any time without affecting your standard medical care.