Can teens learn to rewire their brain to stop Self-Harm?
NCT ID NCT05656001
First seen Sep 16, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback and biofeedback can help adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury learn to regulate their emotions. Sixty participants aged 15 to 19 who have self-injured at least five times in the past six months will receive either brain-based neurofeedback or body-based biofeedback across three training sessions. The study measures changes in emotional reactivity and self-injury frequency to see if these techniques offer a new way to reduce self-harm.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Real-time fMRI neurofeedback and real-time biofeedback training
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer adolescents a non-drug way to practice emotion regulation and reduce self-injury. It could also point to brain-based training as a complement to talk therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small early study with 60 participants, and brain training may not translate into lasting changes in self-injury. Some adolescents may find the scanner or feedback sessions uncomfortable or difficult.
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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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About 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2021
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2027
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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15 to 19 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.
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: * ongoing contact at the child- and adolescent psychiatric clinics in both Linköping and Norrköping, Sweden * ongoing contact at the primary care facilities in Linköping and Norrköping (Ungdomshälsan, Råd, Stöd \& Hälsa) * NSSI, independent of psychiatric diagnosis * between 15 and 19 years of age * having engaged in five or more instances of NSSI during the last six months * the patient is cognitively capable to decide for him- or herself Exclusion Criteria: * anorexia in starvation with BMI 16 or under * substance abuse disorder * psychosis * needing interpreter * intellectual disability * and for those who do the neurofeedback, severe claustrophobia, pregnancy and braces
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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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Region Östergötland
RECRUITINGLinköping, 581 85, Sweden
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