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UCLA researchers looking for healthy older adults (aged 65+) to participate in a study investigating how writing about experiences can affect your brain and body.
Once a week for 6 weeks, participants will write about their experiences and fill out online questionnaires. Participants will also come to the UCLA campus to complete a neuroimaging session (fMRI), provide a blood spot sample, and fill out questionnaires 2 times: once prior to the 6-week writing period and once immediately after the 6-week writing period.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing about Experiences | Experimental | Participants will be asked to write about experiences with familiar individuals in their lives. |
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| Writing about Places | Placebo Comparator | Participants will be asked to write about experiences with familiar places in their lives. |
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| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing Intervention | Behavioral | Participants will be asked to write about different kinds of experiences. |
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| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Psychological Distress | Composite measure of depression, anxiety, stress (Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger Trait Anxiety, and Perceived Stress Scale) | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |
| Change in Social Support | measure of perceived social support (Social Provisions Scale) | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |
| Change in Social Participation | measure of participation in social activities (Lifestyle Activities Questionnaire) | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |
| Change in Inflammatory Gene Expression | changes in proinflammatory gene expression | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |
| Change in Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC) Activity in response to stress | Parameter estimates from dACC region-of-interest | Baseline, 6 weeks |
| Change in Anterior Insula Activity in response to stress | Parameter estimates from bilateral anterior insula region-of-interest | Baseline, 6 weeks |
| Change in Amygdala Activity in response to threat | Parameter estimates from bilateral amygdala region-of-interest | Baseline, 6 weeks |
| Change in Ventral Striatum Activity in response to prosocial behavior |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Memory | changes in recall ability (Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test) | Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |
| Change in Beliefs about Aging | changes in cognitive, affective, and social beliefs about aging (Expectations Regarding Aging survey) |
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Other exclusion criteria may apply.
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| Name | Role | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naomi Eisenberger, Ph.D. | Contact | 3108494330 | neisenbe@ucla.edu |
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| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Cognitive Neuroscience | Recruiting | Los Angeles | California | 90095 | United States |
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Randomized controlled trial
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Parameter estimates from bilateral ventral striatum region-of-interest |
| Baseline, 6 weeks |
| Change in Septal Area Activity in response to prosocial behavior | Parameter estimates from septal area region-of-interest | Baseline, 6 weeks |
| Baseline, 6 weeks, 10 weeks |