Chatbot therapy may rewire brains of people who feel no pleasure
NCT ID NCT07665216
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a friendly chatbot that uses motivational interviewing can change brain activity in people with anhedonia (loss of pleasure). Eighty college students with high anhedonia and depression symptoms will chat with the bot regularly for a few weeks. Brain scans before and after will look for changes in reward and motivation circuits.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
Active substance
Motivational Interviewing chatbot
What this could lead to
If it works, this could point toward a low-cost, accessible digital tool to help ease anhedonia symptoms.
What could go wrong
This is a small, early-stage study in healthy college students, so results may not apply to everyone. The chatbot may not produce meaningful brain changes.
Disclaimer
Read more
Show less
This is a summary of
the original study
.
Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
This is a summary of the original study . Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for HEALTHY are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Show contact details
Enter your email to view the contact information for this study.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
Study contacts
-
Contact
Phone: •••-•••-•••• Email: •••••@•••••
Locations
-
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
RECRUITINGChengdu, Sichuan, China
Contact Phone: •••-•••-•••• Email: •••••@•••••