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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

Neurofeedback for Depression

BSMS > Research > Clinical Neuroscience > Neurofeedback for Depression

Neurofeedback for Depression

Would you like to take part in a study exploring a possible new treatment for depression?

Please first read the information about the study below. If you are interested in participating, complete the following pre-screening form so that we can check your initial eligibility.

Complete the pre-screening form here >

What is the study about?

Depression is a debilitating condition that is often considered to be the most common cause of disability in the world. We have previously identified that feelings of low self-worth are a central feature of depression. Unfortunately, many current treatments do not address low self-worth specifically, and this might result in patients not responding as well as they could. Therefore, it would be beneficial to further investigate which areas of the brain are responsible for regulating excessive self-blaming emotions, in order to develop better therapies and tools for managing the disorder.

In this study, we aim to use a brain-scanning technique called ‘fMRI neurofeedback’ to try to change the brain activity of depressed individuals in these identified areas towards a healthier pattern. We will also ask participants to complete some clinical / psychological questionnaires and assessments.

What would you have to do?

Upon completing an initial electronic / telephone consultation, you will be invited to the University of Sussex for three separate visits, each roughly two weeks apart. During visit 1, you will undergo further screening assessments to confirm eligibility. Following this, we will collect information about your clinical and psychological symptoms through questionnaires and interviews. Before visit 2, you will have been allocated into an Intervention A or Intervention B group (without your knowing). At visit 2, you will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan with neurofeedback. We do not know which neurofeedback intervention (A or B) will be most beneficial for depression.

For both groups, as you lie in the scanner, you will be asked to raise the level of a thermometer-like graphic that will be presented to you on a screen, which represents your brain activity detected by the scanner in real-time (this is what we mean by neurofeedback). By trial-and-error, you will hopefully learn ways of thinking that help to increase the level of the thermometer, which will likely be achieved by reducing feelings of guilt.

During visit 3, we will conduct another set of clinical and psychological questionnaires and assessments to identify any changes in symptoms. We will also send a couple of very short online questionnaires to complete on week 2 and week 4 following visit 3. Overall, it is our hope that some participants will show healthier brain activity patterns and increased self-esteem following neurofeedback.

What are the benefits for you?

There will be no direct benefits to taking part in this study, because a single neurofeedback session is very unlikely to have any long-term effects, but your participation will help us to understand more about depression and how it could be treated. You will also have the opportunity to take home a picture of your brain from the scanning session, and you will receive some monetary compensation for your time, inconvenience and any discomfort caused.

How do you sign up?

If you are interested in participating, you can start by completing the electronic pre-screening form below, which contains some questions to check your initial eligibility for the study. Otherwise, please feel free to contact us directly (see details below), and we can arrange to conduct the pre-screening check over the telephone.

Some of these eligibility criteria you can check for yourself now. You need to:

  • Be proficient in English
  • Live within 2 hours travel of the University of Sussex
  • Have online access
  • Be aged 18 or over
  • Have no current, or history of, alcohol or substance abuse
  • Have no current, or history of, bipolar disorder or hypomania
  • Be experiencing significant and stable symptoms over the past 6 weeks
  • Prove an insufficient response to previous treatment (e.g. antidepressants)
BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Contact details

Mr Alex Nagle

PhD student

Telephone: 07513 268142

Email: a.nagle@bsms.ac.uk

 

Professor James Stone

Professor of Psychiatry

Honorary Consultant in Liaison Psychiatry

Telephone: 01273 873833

Email: j.stone@bsms.ac.uk

 

If you are interested in participating, please complete the following pre-screening form so that we can check your initial eligibility for the study.

Complete the pre-screening form here >