ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05877885Updated Nov 6, 2026

Targeting Network Dysfunction in Apathy of Late-life Depression Using Digital Therapeutics

An interventional study of Targeted Cognitive Training Intervention and General Cognitive Training Intervention in Major Depressive Disorder and Apathy, sponsored by AdventHealth. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 60 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-06.

Sponsored by AdventHealth · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2025; still recruiting 1 year 1 month later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
84
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
60 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the potential of a customized digital cognitive training intervention to target aspects of brain function in apathy of late-life depression and reduce symptoms of apathy and related cognitive and behavioral deficits. The investigators hypothesize that 4 weeks of a customized digital cognitive training program will lead to changes in brain connectivity, apathy severity, and cognitive control performance.

02

Conditions studied

  • Major Depressive Disorder
  • Apathy
03

In context

Depressive Disorder, Major

3,041 studies on the registry are indexed under Depressive Disorder, Major; 588 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 84 is close to the median of 79 across 2,530 interventional studies indexed under Depressive Disorder, Major.

Browse Depressive Disorder, Major studies →

Lead sponsor

AdventHealth is the lead sponsor of 113 studies on the registry; 22 are open to participants now.

Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 2 (40%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
60 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Age 60+ years
  2. Diagnosis of unipolar major depressive disorder without psychotic features, as assessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
  3. Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score > or = 16.
  4. apathy, determined by the Clinician-rated Apathy Evaluation Scale (C-AES > or = to 37)
  5. Off antidepressants or on a stable dose of an antidepressant for 8 weeks and do not intend to change the dose in the next 5 weeks.
  6. On a stable dose of other psychotropic medications, deemed by the investigator to be associated with brain networks of interest, for at least 8 weeks.
  7. Capacity to provide written consent for research assessment and treatment
  8. Ability to follow written and verbal instructions (English) as assessed by the PI and/or study staff.
  9. Total score of > 29 on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS)
  10. Eligible to undergo MRI
  11. Access to a computer or tablet with Wifi capabilities
  12. Able to comply with all testing and study requirements and willingness to participate in the full study duration.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. History or presence of psychiatric diagnoses other than major depressive disorder without psychotic features, persistent depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, or specific phobia
  2. Use of cholinesterase inhibitors or psychoactive drugs other than antidepressants or benzodiazepines, including antipsychotics, that in the opinion of the Investigator may confound study data/assessments.
  3. Presence or history of significant neurologic or neurodegenerative disorder (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, history of stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy).
  4. Any other acute medical condition (e.g., cardiac, renal, or respiratory failure; severe ; cancer; or debilitated states or less common medical illnesses) that may influence brain systems of interest or interfere with participation or interpretation of the study results.
  5. Participant is currently considered at risk for attempting suicide by the Investigator, has made a suicide attempt within the past year, or is currently demonstrating active suicidal ideation or self-injurious behavior.
  6. Electroconvulsive therapy within the past 12 months
  7. Recent history (within 6 months prior to screening/baseline) of Substance Use Disorder.
  8. Participant is currently enrolled in ongoing concurrent cognitive rehabilitation (note that if a subject is enrolled in psychotherapy, this will not be grounds for exclusion)
  9. Claustrophobia
  10. Color Blindness
  11. Sensory or physical impairment that would preclude cognitive testing or participation in the intervention (e.g., upper limb paralysis) as reported by the participant or observed by the Investigator.
  12. Travelling consecutively for 2+ weeks during the study period to a location that will preclude timely collection of post-treatment MRI data.
  13. to MRI scanning including cardiac pacemaker, heart valve replacement, vascular stent, cochlear implant, any other metallic biomedical implant contraindicating to MRI.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
84 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Targeted Cognitive Training Intervention

    Behavioral: Targeted Cognitive Training Intervention

  • Active comparator
    General Cognitive Training Intervention

    Behavioral: General Cognitive Training Intervention

Interventions

  • BehavioralTargeted Cognitive Training Intervention

    In this intervention, participants will complete 25-30 minutes of cognitive training per day, 5 days/week (but up to 7 days/week) for 4 weeks. The training protocol will be delivered via the Posit Science Platform, and includes tasks that emphasize training of sustained attention, salience detection, and dimensions of cognitive control. During the 4 week intervention, participants will have weekly 10-20 minute visits with a Care Manager to provide clinical monitoring of symptoms and structured support to participants.

  • BehavioralGeneral Cognitive Training Intervention

    In this intervention, participants will complete 25-30 minutes of cognitive activities per day, 5 days/week (but up to 7 days/week) for 4 weeks. The training protocol will be delivered via the Posit Science Platform. The intervention protocol will include computerized cognitive activities designed to provide general cognitive stimulation. During the 4 week intervention, participants will have weekly 10-20 minute visits with a Care Manager to provide clinical monitoring of symptoms and structured support to participants.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in Resting State Functional Connectivity among the Salience, Executive Control, and Reward Networks

    Calculated from resting state fMRI scan. Validation of target engagement.

    Time frame: Baseline and Post-treatment (Week 4)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) score

    The 18-item clinician-rated version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) will be used to measure apathy severity. Scores range from 18 (no apathy) to 72 (severe apathy).

    Time frame: Baseline, Mid-treatment (Week 2), and Post-treatment (Week 4)

  2. Change in Stroop Interference score

    Stroop interference will be calculated from the computerized Stroop Task to measure cognitive control.

    Time frame: Baseline, Mid-treatment (Week 2), and Post-treatment (Week 4)

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — The data that will be shared includes all of the individual participant data collected during the trial, after deidentification.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Informed consent form, Analytic code

Time frame: Beginning 3 months following publication of primary outcomes, ending 5 years following publication of primary outcomes.

Access criteria: Data will be made available to researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal, to achieve the aims in the approved proposal. Proposals should be directed to the study PI, Lauren Oberlin, at lauren.oberlin@adventhealth.com

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Sep 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Nov 2028, 37 months after the start.

Of 647 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Depressive Disorder, Major, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 19 and three quarters within 55. This study's planned 37 months is close to that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 687 studies reached it within 33 months; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 55.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
May 17, 2023
First posted
May 26, 2023
StartActual
Sep 19, 2025
Primary completionEst.
Nov 1, 2028
CompletionEst.
Dec 1, 2028
Last update
Nov 6, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Minor edits
Nothing that changes what the study is or who can join. Edited: verification date
1 update, last Nov 6, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 6, 2026
    Minor edits only
    + 1 other change: verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05877885
Lead sponsor
AdventHealth
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 26, 2023
Start date
Sep 19, 2025
Primary completion
Nov 1, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 1, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 6, 2026

Study contacts

Lauren Oberlin, PhD
Contact
lauren.oberlin@adventhealth.com
(860) 690-8441
Lauren Oberlin, PhD
principal investigator · AdventHealth

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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