Testing the Efficacy of an Eye-tracking-based Treatment in Reducing Stress-related Symptoms in Veterans With PTSD

The registry criteria, word for word

What the trial wants to find out

The study will examine the efficacy of a feedback-based treatment applying eye-tracking (Gaze-Contingent Music Reward Therapy) to change attention and gaze patterns associated with angry faces relative to a response-time-based attention bias modification treatment applying the dot-probe task and a control group.

The 3 groups in the trial

• Gaze-Contingent Feedback TrainingTreatment being tested

  In the task, 30 different matrices, each consisting of 16 faces, will be presented. Each matrix includes 8 angry faces and 8 neutral, 8 women and 8 men, and the locations are counterbalanced between matrices. The participants are asked to view the matrices in any way they choose, and the eye-tracking camera records their viewing location relative to the stimuli presented on the screen. At the beginning of each training session, the veteran will choose to which music he would like to listen during the 12-minute session from a diverse list of music. After calibrating the eye-tracking technology, the veteran will be instructed to view the matrices of faces as he chooses, as described above in the assessment task. The music chosen by the veteran will play only when s/he is looking at neutral faces and it will stop when s/he looks at threatening faces.

• RT-Based Attention Bias ModificationExisting treatment, for comparison

  The task consists of 160 trials. Each trial begins with a centrally-presented fixation cross (+), on which the participant is asked to focus for 500ms. When it disappears, two stimuli will be presented 1.5cm above and below the previous fixation cross for 500ms. After the stimuli disappear, a target probe (right- or left-pointing arrowhead) will appear in place of one of the stimuli, and the participant will be asked to indicate which target probe is presented by pressing the respective key. The target probe will remain on the screen until the participant's response, after which a new trial will begin. Participants are instructed to identify the probe type as quickly and accurately as possible. In the training task, all of the target probes will appear in the neutral face location. Thus, over multiple trials, learning occurs that the threatening face predicts the location of the target probe, thereby achieving the desiring change in attention patterns.

  Treatment: Attention Bias Modification

• Non-Contingent Feedback TrainingPlacebo, for comparison

  This condition is based on the aforementioned eye-tracking task with a fundamental change - The music chosen by the veteran will play continuously without any reinforcement for looking at threat or neutral faces.