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| ID | Type | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01GP2210C | Other Grant/Funding Number | German Federal Ministry of Education and Research |
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The behavioral within-subject cross-over design study "CoVa" aims to investigate the effect of a short-term full-body cold-water immersion vs. warm-water immersion control on value-based choice, psychological well-being, and peripheral physiology.
This randomized within-subject cross-over design behavioral study in cognitive neuroscience will employ an acute peripheral physiological intervention, i.e., a 10-minute full-body cold-water (10-16°C) immersion vs. a control condition (10 min @ 30- 36°C water) on two visits separated by approx. 30 days.
Forty eligible female and male participants will be subject to a head-out full-body cold-water immersion or a warm-water condition (control) on two visits. Participants will perform resting-state and task-based non-invasive electrophysiological recordings of the heart, pulse, respiration, skin conductance, and pupil, will undergo thermographic imaging, pre- and post-immersion blood sampling (4 time points), engage in two computer-based decision-making tasks (reinforcement learning task, risk decision-making task), a brief food choice task, and receive a battery of psychometric questionnaires. The visits are separated by approximately 30 days and do not differ in their timeline except for the primary intervention, i.e., cold vs warm-water immersion, and the medical screening on visit 1.
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| Label | Type | Description | Intervention Names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold-water immersion | Experimental |
| |
| Warm-water immersion (Control) | Experimental |
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| Name | Type | Description | Arm Group Labels | Other Names |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold-water immersion | Behavioral | Single 10-minute acute full-body head-out single arm-out cold-water immersion at 10-16°C on the experimental day |
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| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Risk propensity | Risk propensity, i.e., the ratio between risky and non-risky choices for each monetary value as measured in the risk decision-making task in the cold-water vs warm-water condition as described in Liu et al. (2021) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Behavioral range adaptation | Participants will perform a computer-based reinforcement learning task described in Gueguen et al. (2024) to assess reward sensitivity in different monetary contexts. Behavioral range adaptation, which reflects value range-dependent, relative reward valuation, may be altered if reward processing itself is changed through a potent shift in the physiological state. To test whether reward processing is altered after cold vs warm water exposure, the extent to which range adaptation and reference-point centering occurs will be quantified using computational modeling methods. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Food choice | Participants will be provided an ad libitum restaurant-like breakfast meal during which they can order various food items (e.g., bread, yogurts, cookies) in the desired amount. The ingested food type, nutritional value, and amount will be quantified to assess food preference after cold vs warm water exposure by linking the consumed food with a standardized food database (German Nutrient Database, Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel). | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Heart-rate variability | Task-based and resting-state heart-rate variability, measured with a three-point electrocardiogram (ECG) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Heart rate | Task-based and resting-state heart rate, measured with ECG | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Measure | Description | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Trait autonomy questionnaire | Trait autonomy is assessed via the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS). Measures range from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (totally true) with 5 indicating the highest score. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Emotion regulation questionnaire |
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Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Raynaud syndrome
Cold urticaria
High resting heart rate (>160 beats per minute)
Acute infection
Diagnosed current or former illnesses of
Wearing of medical devices (e.g., pacemaker)
Fear of blood, needles, or phlebotomy
Allergies to plasters, gels, and other medical equipment
Allergies to commercially available liquid meals (e.g., shakes, yfood Labs GmbH)
Recurrent intake of medication which affect metabolism
Regular nicotine consumption (e.g., vaping, cigarettes)
Excessive alcohol consumption (>14 servings/week)
Recent illegal drug consumption (within 2 weeks prior)
Strong mental or physical stress
Excessive exercise (>2 h high-intensity exercise/day)
Pregnancy or breastfeeding
Inability to wear skin-exposing swimwear, e.g., for religious reasons
Affinity for winter swimming, cryotherapy, breathwork (>3 times/year)
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| Name | Role | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Centre of the Human Study Centre Recruitment Officer | Contact | +4933200 882753 | CoVa-Studie@dife.de | |
| Mine Schmidt | Contact | +4933200 882518 | mine.schmidt@dife.de |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Soyoung Q Park, Prof. Dr. | German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke | Principal Investigator |
| Facility | Status | City | State | ZIP | Country | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke | Recruiting | Nuthetal | Germany |
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| Label | URL |
|---|---|
| Abler, B. \& Kessler, H. (2011). ERQ. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire \[Verfahrensdokumentation aus PSYNDEX Tests-Nr. 9006192 und Fragebogen\]. In Leibniz-Zentrum für Psychologische Information und Dokumentation (ZPID) (Hrsg.), Elektronisches Testarchi | View source |
| Scherhorn, G., Haas, H., Hellenthal, F., \& Seibold, S. (1999). Kausalitätsorientierungen. Zusammenstellung sozialwissenschaftlicher Items und Skalen (ZIS). | View source |
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| ID | Term |
|---|---|
| D001519 | Behavior |
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| Warm-water immersion (Control) | Behavioral | Single 10-minute acute full-body head-out single arm-out cold-water immersion at 30-36°C on the experimental day |
|
| Respiration rate | Task-based and resting-state respiration rate, measured via a respiration belt | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Relative amplitude of the respiratory signal | Task-based and resting-state relative respiratory amplitude, measured via a respiratory belt | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Event-related skin conductance responses | Phasic electrodermal activity, measured via electrodermal activity (EDA) electrodes | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Tonic skin conductance | Tonic task-based and resting-state electrodermal activity, measured with EDA electrodes | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Pupil dilation | Task-based and resting-state pupil dilation, measured via eye-tracking | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Skin temperature | Thermographic imaging of the face, full-body, supraclavicular, and scapular area using a thermal camera pre-, during, and post-immersion | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Plasma concentration of large neutral amino acids | Large neutral amino acid (LNAA) plasma concentration will be assessed via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Plasma concentration of catecholamines | Catecholamines via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Plasma concentration of cortisol | Cortisol via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Identification of epigenetic markers associated with acute cold exposure | Epigenetic markers (micro-RNA) via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion) | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Perceived control | Psychological changes in perceived control, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived control. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Perceived freedom | Psychological changes in perceived freedom, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived freedom. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Perceived stress | Psychological changes in perceived stress, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived stress. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| State of flow | Psychological changes in perceived state of flow, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating a high state of flow. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Self-efficacy | Psychological changes in self-efficacy, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high self-efficacy. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Perceived pain | Psychological changes in perceived pain, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived pain. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Emotions | Psychological changes in emotions and their bodily origins, measured via self-reports pre- and post-immersion. Measures will be drawn on a virtual body using an adapted version of the Nummenmaa et al. (2014) emBODY tool with red color indicating increased perception and blue indicating decreased perception. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Positive affect and negative affect questionnaire | Psychological changes in affect, measured semi-continuously via the Positive Affect Negative Affect (PANAS) questionnaire to be filled out pre- and post-immersion. Measures for each item range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) with 5 indicating the highest feeling perceived at the moment. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
Emotion regulation, assessed via the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Measures range from 1 (not at all true) to 7 (totally true) with 7 indicating the highest score. |
| On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Causality orientation questionnaire | Causality orientation, assessed via the General Causality Orientations Scale (GCOS). Measures range from 1 (very unlikely) to 6 (very likely) with 6 indicating the highest probability of responding as the item describes in the vignette scenario. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Delay discounting questionnaire | Delay discounting is assessed via the Delay Discounting Test by Kirby. Response options to each item are binary with one option corresponding to an immediate reward (e.g., 14 EUR today) and the second option corresponding to a higher but delayed reward (e.g., 19 EUR in 60 days). | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Interoceptive awareness questionnaire | Interoceptive awareness, assessed via the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire. Measures range from 0 (never) to 5 (always) with 5 indicating the highest response. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Generalized self-efficacy questionnaire | Generalized self-efficacy, assessed via the Self-Efficacy Scale (SWE). Measures range from "not at all true", "hardly true", "moderately true" and "exactly true". A higher score, indicated by a preference for "exactly true", indicated more self-efficacy. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Trait and state anxiety questionnaire | Trait and state anxiety, assessed via the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S and STAI-T). State anxiety is assessed on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 8 (very much) with a higher score indicating high state anxiety. Trait anxiety is assessed on a scale from 0 (almost never) to 3 (almost always) with a higher score indicating high trait anxiety. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Well-being questionnaire | Psychological well-being is assessed via the short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). Responses range from "never" to "always" on a 5-point scale with a high score indicating higher mental well-being in the past two weeks. | On day 1 and after 30 days |
| Forstmeier, S., \& Maercker, A. (2011). Selbstkontrolle im höheren Erwachsenenalter: Eine deutsche Version des Delay Discounting Tests von Kirby. PPmP - Psychotherapie · Psychosomatik · Medizinische Psychologie, 61(06), e19-e33. | View source |
| Bornemann, B., Herbert, B. M., Mehling, W. E., \& Singer, T. (2015). Differential changes in self-reported aspects of interoceptive awareness through 3 months of contempl tive training. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. | View source |
| Jerusalem, M., \& Schwarzer, R. (2003). SWE - Skala zur Allgemeinen Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung. ZPID (Leibniz Institute for Psychology) - Open Test Archive. | View source |
| Grimm, Jürgen (Hg.) (2009): State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory nach Spielberger. Deutsche Lang- und Kurzversion. - Methodenforum der Universität Wien: MF-Working Paper 2009/02 | View source |
| Lang, G., \& Bachinger, A. (2017). Validation of the German Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) in a community-based sample of adults in Austria: A bi-factor modelling approach. Journal of Public Health, 25(2), 135-146. | View source |
| Gueguen, M. C. M., Anlló, H., Bonagura, D., Kong, J., Hafezi, S., Palminteri, S., \& Konova, A. B. (2024). Recent Opioid Use Impedes Range Adaptation in Reinforcement Learning in Human Addiction. Biological Psychiatry, 95(10), 974-984. | View source |
| Liu, L., Artigas, S. O., Ulrich, A., Tardu, J., Mohr, P. N. C., Wilms, B., Koletzko, B., Schmid, S. M., \& Park, S. Q. (2021). Eating to dare- Nutrition impacts human risky decision and related brain function. NeuroImage, 233, 117951. | View source |