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NCT04487730

Social Reward and Its Effect on Brain Functions in Psychotherapies for Mid- and Late-Life Depression

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 3 June 2025
What this trial tests

NA trial testing "Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy in Major Depressive Disorder in 64 participants. Completed in 19 August 2024.

Timeline
15 October 2020
Primary endpoint
13 August 2024
19 August 2024

Quick facts

Lead sponsorWeill Medical College of Cornell University
PhaseNA
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationrandomized
Designparallel
Maskingtriple
Primary purposetreatment
Enrollment64
Start date15 October 2020
Primary completion13 August 2024
Estimated completion19 August 2024
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Who can join

Adults 50 to 85, any sex, with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Change in Resting State fMRI Connectivity of the Positive Valence System Primary · Baseline, Mid-treatment (Week 5) and Post Treatment (Week 9)

Calculated from fMRI scan. Validation of target engagement (resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) within the right hemisphere orbital prefrontal cortex (OFC), specifically between the lateral and medial regions of the OFC).

Baseline
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy0.18± 0.03
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)0.18± 0.02
Week 5
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy0.24± 0.02
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)0.29± 0.02
Week 9
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy0.25± 0.03
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)0.24± 0.03
Change in Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) Secondary · Baseline, Mid-treatment (Week 5) and Post Treatment (Week 9)

10-item Clinician rated measure of depression severity. Scores range from 0 (no depression) to 60 (severe depression).

Baseline
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy23.66± 4.62
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)24.81± 3.39
Mid-treatment (Week 5)
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy13.82± 7.56
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)18.62± 7.03
Post Treatment (Week 9)
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy11.86± 8.97
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)14.66± 8.89
Change in Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) Secondary · Baseline, Mid-treatment (Week 5) and Post Treatment (Week 9)

25-item measure self-report measure of behavioral activation. Scores range from 0 (very low behavioral activation) to 150 (high behavioral activation).

Baseline
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy71.24± 21.36
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)70.00± 18.40
Mid-treatment (Week 5)
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy95.21± 28.84
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)88.21± 20.73
Post Treatment (Week 9)
GroupValue95% CI
"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy98.00± 30.54
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)93.86± 25.28

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: 9 weeks. Reporting threshold: 5%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

"Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy
Serious: 0/31 (0%)
Deaths: 0/31
Symptom Review and Psychoeducation (SRP)
Serious: 0/33 (0%)
Deaths: 0/33
Other adverse events (2 terms — click to expand)

ReactionSystem"Engage & Connect" Psychot…Symptom Review and Psychoe…
Hospital Visits (unrelated to research)General disorders
Wearable device (watch) irritationSkin and subcutaneous tissue disorders

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04487730 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

Abnormalities in the Positive Valence System (PVS) are associated with depressive symptoms and reduced behavioral activation in mid- and late-life. This study will investigate the engagement of the PVS during exposure to social rewards, part of a novel streamlined psychotherapy for mid- and late-life depression. Use of computational modeling will enable identification of neuroimaging and behavioral profiles associated with greater treatment response, and may guide future personalization of psychotherapy.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial. Completed trials usually publish results within 12-18 months.

Verify or expand the search:

Other trials of "Engage & Connect" Psychotherapy

Trials testing the same drug.

Other recruiting trials for Major Depressive Disorder

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other Weill Medical College of Cornell University trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

Verify against primary sources

Data sources for this page

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT04487730.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing