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RecruitingNCT05991713Updated Sep 30, 2026

Geolocation Positional System (GPS) Experience

An interventional study of Modifying Exploration in Emotions, Anhedonia and Depression, sponsored by University of Miami. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-30.

Sponsored by University of Miami · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to use smartphone technology to capture individual location emotional and cognitive data, to examine how real-world behaviors thoughts, emotions, and brain activity are related to one another.

Read the detailed description

The observational portion of this study was initially approved in 2015, this is a subset of the initially approved study and it is a clinical trial of 100 participants.

02

Conditions studied

  • Emotions
  • Anhedonia
  • Depression
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Must agree to give informed consent
  • Must be willing to have an functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) scan
  • Must be able to receive and respond to daily text messages assessing current emotion
  • Must be willing to download and run a GPS tracking application (FollowMee) onto their smartphone for a four-month period

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of head trauma, seizures, or neurological disorders
  • severe/unstable medical conditions
  • conditions that interfere with MRI
  • pregnancy
  • lifetime psychotic/bipolar disorder
  • chronic/severe substance or alcohol abuse/dependence
  • antipsychotic medication
04

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Modifying Exploration

    Individuals will be asked on certain days to increase their levels of exploration, and some days be asked to decrease their levels of exploration. Participants will do this for up to six months.

    Behavioral: Modifying Exploration

Interventions

  • BehavioralModifying Exploration

    Participants in this group will use a mobile phone sensor data application that uses an accelerometer, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and/or GPS designed for smartphone devices. This technology allows the phones to capture information automatically and passively on the participant's activity. The application will be collecting participants' data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Participants will be asked to make alterations to their exploration levels approximately 20 days of their participation in the study.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in positive emotional response as measured by ecological momentary assessment

    Emotional response will be measured by computing a total mean score of "happy", "excited", "content", "attentive", "relaxed". The total mean score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater positive emotional response.

    Time frame: Baseline, up to 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in negative emotional response as measured by ecological momentary assessment

    Emotional response will be measured by computing a total mean score of "sad", "tired", "upset", "irritable", "anxious". The total mean score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater negative emotional response.

    Time frame: Baseline, up to 6 months

06

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • University of Miami
    Coral Gables, Florida 33146, United States
    • Isabella C D'Ottone, BA · Contact · icd30@miami.edu · 3052849555
    • Aaron S Heller, PhD · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
07

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05991713
Lead sponsor
University of Miami
Collaborators
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Responsible party
Aaron Heller (Associate Professor, University of Miami) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 15, 2023
Start date
Nov 2, 2023
Primary completion
Sep 1, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 1, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 30, 2026

Study contacts

Isabella C D'Ottone, BA
Contact
icd30@miami.edu
3052849555
Aaron S Heller, PhD
principal investigator · University of Miami

Oversight

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

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