Brain training for inmates: a new way to reduce violence?
NCT ID NCT04610697
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether cognitive remediation—brain exercises with coaching—can improve thinking skills and reduce aggression in 30 forensic inpatients with conditions like psychosis, ADHD, or substance use. Participants will do exercises and be compared to an active control group. The goal is to see if this approach can help with rehabilitation.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Cognitive remediation (brain training exercises with coaching)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a way to improve thinking skills and reduce aggressive behavior in forensic patients.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early-stage study (30 people) with no control group comparison yet. The benefits may not be large or lasting.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
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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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Feb 2020
- Expected to finish
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Feb 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- 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 55 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- 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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: i1. Age 18 - 55; i2. Ability to read and speak in fluent English; i3. Current status as inpatient on the Forensic Treatment Unit. Exclusion Criteria: e1. Intellectual disability; e2. TBI with loss of consciousness followed by known severe neurological sequelae requiring hospitalisation and rehabilitation.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research
RECRUITINGOttawa, Ontario, K1Z 7K4, Canada
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