Neuropsychological Rehabilitation of Spontaneous Confabulation: a Replica Study

NCT03183453 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Conf-02
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 57
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Confabulators consistently generate false memories without intention to deceive and with great feeling of rightness. However, there is currently no known effective treatment for them. In order to fill this gap, we performed a neuropsychological treatment in two groups of confabulators: experimental vs. control (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02540772). Now, we intend to replicate the treatment with a larger sample of confabulators and with other two control groups: non-confabulator patients with brain injury and healthy individuals

Conditions

Memory Disorders

Keywords

Confabulations; Neuropsychological rehabilitation; Memory

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in the number of Confabulations

  The confabulations recorded were 1) guessed answers, 2) confusions in time and space, 3) a mixture of two or more stimuli presented, and 4) devised or bizarre responses. Scores ranged from 0 (no confabulations) to unlimited number of them (because devised or bizarre responses were recorded) and consisted of the sum of all the confabulations produced during the 3 sessions.

  A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

• Change in the number of correct responses

  Scores ranged from 0 (no correct answers) to 72 (12 stimuli remembered twice in each session: firstly, in a immediate recall after learning, and secondly, in a delayed recall after 10 minutes).

  A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

• Change in the number of non-responses

  Scores ranged from 0 (no non-responses) to 72 (12 stimuli remembered twice in each session: firstly, in a immediate recall after learning, and secondly, in a delayed recall after 10 minutes).

  A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change in the number of errors in source attribution

  A first measure (pre-treatment) was recorded after the recruitment up maximum to 1 month. A second measure (post-treatment) after 3 weeks (that was the duration of the treatment).

Study Arms (3)

Neuropsychological treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

The tested treatment is a combination of neuropsychological rehabilitation procedures: learning, episodic memory recall after a delay, selective attention, inhibition of predominant responses and awareness of deficits.

Behavioral: Neuropsychological treatment

Non-confabulators control group

NO INTERVENTION

Non-confabulators (brain injured patients but without confabulations) in this control group only performed the pre- and post-measurements without treatment.

Healthy control group

NO INTERVENTION

Healthy participants in this control group only performed the pre- and post-measurements without treatment.

Interventions

Neuropsychological treatment BEHAVIORAL

Participants had to learn some brief material (words, faces, pictures, news), after which they were asked for an immediate and a delayed recall. After both recalls, participants were confronted with feedback about correct responses, non-responses and errors (i.e., confabulations and errors of attribution). This type of feedback worked on: 1) selective attention during the learning phase, training patients to focus on the relevant details of the stimuli; 2) monitoring processes during the retrieval phase, reinforcing the strategic search and training patients to inhibit traces that were irrelevant; and 3) memory control processes after the retrieval phase. The treatment consisted of 9 sessions and lasted for 3 weeks and the participants performed a baseline before and after treatment.

Also known as: Confabulations treatment

Neuropsychological treatment

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 35 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• The presence of spontaneous confabulations after acute brain injury, for at least three months and without clinical improvement (interfering with the patient's daily life with frequent arguments and exhaustive supervision).
• The presence of momentary confabulations in the Spanish adaptation of Dalla Barba provoked confabulation interview.
• Prior to injury, all patients should be completely independent for daily living.

You may not qualify if:

• The presence of impairment in alertness.
• Dementia.
• Acute confusional state.
• A history of drug abuse.
• Psychiatric antecedents.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Monica Triviño Mosquera: lead

Study Sites (1)

San Rafael University Hospital

Granada, 18001, Spain

Location

Related Publications (5)

• Gilboa A, Alain C, Stuss DT, Melo B, Miller S, Moscovitch M. Mechanisms of spontaneous confabulations: a strategic retrieval account. Brain. 2006 Jun;129(Pt 6):1399-414. doi: 10.1093/brain/awl093. Epub 2006 Apr 25.

  PMID: 16638795 BACKGROUND

• Trivino M, Rodenas E, Lupianez J, Arnedo M. Effectiveness of a neuropsychological treatment for confabulations after brain injury: A clinical trial with theoretical implications. PLoS One. 2017 Mar 3;12(3):e0173166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173166. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 28257420 BACKGROUND

• Schnider A. The confabulating mind. How the brain creates reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2008

  BACKGROUND

• Nahum L, Bouzerda-Wahlen A, Guggisberg A, Ptak R, Schnider A. Forms of confabulation: dissociations and associations. Neuropsychologia. 2012 Aug;50(10):2524-34. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.06.026. Epub 2012 Jul 7.

  PMID: 22781813 BACKGROUND

• Ciaramelli E, Ghetti S, Borsotti M. Divided attention during retrieval suppresses false recognition in confabulation. Cortex. 2009 Feb;45(2):141-53. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2007.10.006. Epub 2008 Feb 6.

  PMID: 19150516 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Memory Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Monica Triviño, PhD

  San Rafael University Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Psychology PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 25, 2017
• First Posted: June 12, 2017
• Study Start: July 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2017
• Study Completion: January 31, 2018
• Last Updated: May 29, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-05

Locations

ES (1)