ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05942521Updated Oct 16, 2023

Effects of Subconscious Memory Extinction in Patients With Alcohol Dependence and Its Mechanism

An interventional study of Very brief extinction and Clearly visible extinction in Alcohol Use Disorder, sponsored by Shenzhen Kangning Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-10-16.

Sponsored by Shenzhen Kangning Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2024, 1 year 11 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jul 2023; still recruiting 3 years 3 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
90
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

In this study, the subconscious memory extinction therapy based on very brief exposure is used to intervene to reduce the alcohol craving of alcohol-dependent patients, prevent relapse, and observe the psychological craving, heart rate, skin conductance, and pupil diameter changes of the patients during the brief exposure extinction. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. Whether subconscious extinction intervention would reduce psychological craving and alcohol relapse?
  2. What is the mechanism of subconscious extinction intervention in alcohol dependence?
Read the detailed description

After being informed about the study and potential risks, all patients giving written informed consent will undergo a screening period to determine eligibility for study entry. patients who meet the eligibility requirements will be randomized in very brief extinction, clearly visible extinction, or very brief neutral extinction. This study will recruit alcohol-dependent participants aged 18-60 in the ward, observe reported subjective scores during the extinction, and record the heart rate, skin conductance, pupil diameter, and ERP changes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Alcohol Use Disorder

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Keywords

  • Alcohol
  • Craving
  • Extinction training
  • Subconscious
03

In context

Alcoholism

1,674 studies on the registry are indexed under Alcoholism; 331 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 90 is close to the median of 88 across 1,428 interventional studies indexed under Alcoholism.

Browse Alcoholism studies →

Lead sponsor

Shenzhen Kangning Hospital is the lead sponsor of 8 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
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. Adopt alcohol dependence diagnostic criteria;
  2. Complete detoxification treatment without obvious withdrawal symptoms;
  3. , voluntary participation.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria:

  1. Acute alcohol dependence withdrawal period;
  2. Patients who meet the DSM-Ⅳ diagnosis of psychoactive substances or non-psychoactive substances other than alcohol (except nicotine);
  3. Previous acceptance experienced similar exposure therapy;
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

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.

DSM diagnostic criteria

The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Very brief extinction

    Enrolled participants would receive very brief extinction approximately 25 minutes per day for 2 days.

    Behavioral: Very brief extinction

  • Sham comparator
    Very brief neutral extinction

    Enrolled participants would receive very brief neutral extinction for approximately 25 minutes per day for 2 days.

    Behavioral: Very brief neutral extinction

  • Active comparator
    Clearly visible extinction

    Enrolled participants would receive clearly visible extinction therapy for approximately 25 minutes per day for 2 days.

    Behavioral: Clearly visible extinction

Interventions

  • BehavioralVery brief extinction

    The very brief extinction presents a very short (33ms) repetitive sequence of alcohol cues, followed by a "masking" stimulus(117ms), which masks the alcohol cues. In the case of repeated exposure to alcohol stimulation, the response to the stimulation is desensitized at the level of unconscious processing.

  • BehavioralClearly visible extinction

    The clearly visible extinction presents a repetitive sequence of alcohol cues(150ms) without a "masking" stimulus. In the case of repeat exposure to alcohol stimulation, the response to the stimulation is desensitized at the level of conscious processing.

  • BehavioralVery brief neutral extinction

    The very brief neutral extinction presents a very short (33ms) repetitive sequence of neutral cues, followed by a "masking" stimulus(117ms), which masks the neutral cues. In the case of repeated exposure to neutral stimulation, the response to the stimulation is desensitized at the level of unconscious processing.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline in alcohol craving by using Visual Analog Scale of Alcohol Craving at week 1.

    Alcohol-specific Visual Analog Scale is a valid measurements of craving for a alcohol. Possible scores range from 0(no craving) to 10 (want to drink imediately). Change= (week 1 score - baseline score)

    Time frame: baseline and week 1

  2. Relapse rate

    Percentage of participants who relapse by assuming that drinking alcohol on more than 3 days in a month in anunrestricted environment is re-drinking

    Time frame: Four week after intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Skin conductance level (SCL)

    Thus skin conductance level can serve as a stable and useful index of autonomic arousal in clinical trials. Skin conductance signals are measured via electrodes placed on fingertips, arrange from 0 to 50 uS.

    Time frame: During the intervention period

  2. Pupil diameter

    The pupil diameter is measured by Eyelink 1000 plus eyetracking, Pupil size data are available with every data point collected by the EyeLink 1000 Plus. To evaluate the level of accuracy obtained in pupil size measures, dots between 2.0 and 5.0 mm in diameter were laser printed.

    Time frame: During the intervention period

  3. Event-relatred potential (ERP)

    An ERP is a technique that can be used to assess how the brain is functioning in response to stimulation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are derived from electroencephalographic (EEG) measurement of neural activity. The 64-channel EEG system from Brain Products company would be used to measure P300, N400, and slow potential.

    Time frame: During the intervention period

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking 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 Jul 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2024, 17 months after the start.

Of 470 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Alcoholism, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 55. This study's planned 17 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 493 studies reached it within 33 months; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 53.

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

Registered
Jun 16, 2023
First posted
Jul 12, 2023
StartActual
Jul 20, 2023
Primary completionEst.
Dec 2024
CompletionEst.
Dec 2024
Last update
Oct 16, 2023
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.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 16, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05942521
Lead sponsor
Shenzhen Kangning Hospital
Responsible party
Xiaojian Jia (Professor, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 12, 2023
Start date
Jul 20, 2023
Primary completion
Dec 2024 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2024 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 16, 2023

Study contacts

Xiaojian Jia
Contact
94205638@qq.com
+8613823797115
Qi Wang
Contact
16981017@qq.com
+8613688819667
Xiaojian Jia
principal investigator · Shenzhen Kangning Hospita

Oversight

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

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