Brain training by feedback: a new angle on depression
NCT ID NCT07815457
First seen Sep 11, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026
Summary
Researchers at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile ran a small feasibility study to see whether women aged 18 to 35 with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms could use real-time EEG neurofeedback to shift their brain activity toward a target pattern. Participants were randomly split into two groups: one received visual feedback tied to their brain signals plus small cash rewards, and the other received sham feedback with matching rewards. Everyone attended five sessions over about three weeks. The main question was whether the brain-signal classifier performed better than chance, with symptom changes and tolerability tracked as secondary measures.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- EEG neurofeedback guided by a pretrained classifier, with visual feedback and small monetary rewards
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a low-cost, non-drug way to help people with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms train their own brain activity.
- What could go wrong
- The study is tiny, with 20 participants, and it only checks whether the approach is feasible. It cannot show whether symptoms improve, and any benefit may come from placebo or the reward money rather than the brain training.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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20 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2019
- Finished
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Jan 2023
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 35 years
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Self-identification as a woman. * Female sex assigned at birth, reported during the intake interview * Self-reported right-handedness * Age 18-35 years * Beck Depression Inventory-II score of 14-29 * Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score below 24 * Score below 2 on the suicide-related item of both the Beck Depression * Inventory-II and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Exclusion Criteria: * Current psychotherapy * Self-reported history of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia * Prior suicide attempt * Self-reported history of post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance use disorder, or anorexia nervosa * Neurological disorder, including dementia, brain tumor, or epilepsy * Intellectual disability * Regular or intermittent use of benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, or psychostimulants * Use of another psychotropic medication unless the medication and dose had remained unchanged for at least 3 months before enrollment
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Laboratory for Brain-Machine Interfaces and Neuromodulation, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Santiago, RM, 8320000, Chile
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