Cold Water and Decision-Making
CoVa
Voluntary Cold-Water Immersion Effects on Value-Based Choice
2 other identifiers
interventional
40
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The behavioral within-subject cross-over design study "CoVa" aims to investigate the effect of a short-term full-body cold-water immersion vs. warm-water immersion control on value-based choice, psychological well-being, and peripheral physiology.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable
Started Aug 2025
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
March 18, 2025
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
April 3, 2025
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
August 28, 2025
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 31, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
December 31, 2026
April 21, 2026
September 1, 2025
1.3 years
March 18, 2025
April 17, 2026
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (23)
Risk propensity
Risk propensity, i.e., the ratio between risky and non-risky choices for each monetary value as measured in the risk decision-making task in the cold-water vs warm-water condition as described in Liu et al. (2021)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Behavioral range adaptation
Participants will perform a computer-based reinforcement learning task described in Gueguen et al. (2024) to assess reward sensitivity in different monetary contexts. Behavioral range adaptation, which reflects value range-dependent, relative reward valuation, may be altered if reward processing itself is changed through a potent shift in the physiological state. To test whether reward processing is altered after cold vs warm water exposure, the extent to which range adaptation and reference-point centering occurs will be quantified using computational modeling methods.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Food choice
Participants will be provided an ad libitum restaurant-like breakfast meal during which they can order various food items (e.g., bread, yogurts, cookies) in the desired amount. The ingested food type, nutritional value, and amount will be quantified to assess food preference after cold vs warm water exposure by linking the consumed food with a standardized food database (German Nutrient Database, Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel).
On day 1 and after 30 days
Heart-rate variability
Task-based and resting-state heart-rate variability, measured with a three-point electrocardiogram (ECG)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Heart rate
Task-based and resting-state heart rate, measured with ECG
On day 1 and after 30 days
Respiration rate
Task-based and resting-state respiration rate, measured via a respiration belt
On day 1 and after 30 days
Relative amplitude of the respiratory signal
Task-based and resting-state relative respiratory amplitude, measured via a respiratory belt
On day 1 and after 30 days
Event-related skin conductance responses
Phasic electrodermal activity, measured via electrodermal activity (EDA) electrodes
On day 1 and after 30 days
Tonic skin conductance
Tonic task-based and resting-state electrodermal activity, measured with EDA electrodes
On day 1 and after 30 days
Pupil dilation
Task-based and resting-state pupil dilation, measured via eye-tracking
On day 1 and after 30 days
Skin temperature
Thermographic imaging of the face, full-body, supraclavicular, and scapular area using a thermal camera pre-, during, and post-immersion
On day 1 and after 30 days
Plasma concentration of large neutral amino acids
Large neutral amino acid (LNAA) plasma concentration will be assessed via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Plasma concentration of catecholamines
Catecholamines via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Plasma concentration of cortisol
Cortisol via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Identification of epigenetic markers associated with acute cold exposure
Epigenetic markers (micro-RNA) via blood sampling at 4 time points (pre-immersion to 120 min post-immersion)
On day 1 and after 30 days
Perceived control
Psychological changes in perceived control, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived control.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Perceived freedom
Psychological changes in perceived freedom, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived freedom.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Perceived stress
Psychological changes in perceived stress, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived stress.
On day 1 and after 30 days
State of flow
Psychological changes in perceived state of flow, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating a high state of flow.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Self-efficacy
Psychological changes in self-efficacy, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high self-efficacy.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Perceived pain
Psychological changes in perceived pain, measured semi-continuously via self-reports throughout the experimental day. Measures range from 0% (not at all) to 100% (very much) with 100% indicating high perceived pain.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Emotions
Psychological changes in emotions and their bodily origins, measured via self-reports pre- and post-immersion. Measures will be drawn on a virtual body using an adapted version of the Nummenmaa et al. (2014) emBODY tool with red color indicating increased perception and blue indicating decreased perception.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Positive affect and negative affect questionnaire
Psychological changes in affect, measured semi-continuously via the Positive Affect Negative Affect (PANAS) questionnaire to be filled out pre- and post-immersion. Measures for each item range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) with 5 indicating the highest feeling perceived at the moment.
On day 1 and after 30 days
Secondary Outcomes (8)
Trait autonomy questionnaire
On day 1 and after 30 days
Emotion regulation questionnaire
On day 1 and after 30 days
Causality orientation questionnaire
On day 1 and after 30 days
Delay discounting questionnaire
On day 1 and after 30 days
Interoceptive awareness questionnaire
On day 1 and after 30 days
- +3 more secondary outcomes
Study Arms (2)
Cold-water immersion
EXPERIMENTALWarm-water immersion (Control)
EXPERIMENTALInterventions
Single 10-minute acute full-body head-out single arm-out cold-water immersion at 10-16°C on the experimental day
Single 10-minute acute full-body head-out single arm-out cold-water immersion at 30-36°C on the experimental day
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- years of age
- Consent to participate
- Fluency in German
- Physically and mentally healthy
- BMI 18-30 kg/m2
- Normal day-night rhythm
You may not qualify if:
- Raynaud syndrome
- Cold urticaria
- High resting heart rate (\>160 beats per minute)
- Acute infection
- Diagnosed current or former illnesses of
- Brain and mind
- Heart and blood circulation
- Gastrointestinal system
- Endocrine system
- Other serious past or present medical conditions
- Wearing of medical devices (e.g., pacemaker)
- Fear of blood, needles, or phlebotomy
- Allergies to plasters, gels, and other medical equipment
- Allergies to commercially available liquid meals (e.g., shakes, yfood Labs GmbH)
- Recurrent intake of medication which affect metabolism
- +8 more criteria
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
Nuthetal, Germany
Related Links
- Abler, B. \& Kessler, H. (2011). ERQ. Emotion Regulation Questionnaire \[Verfahrensdokumentation aus PSYNDEX Tests-Nr. 9006192 und Fragebogen\]. In Leibniz-Zentrum für Psychologische Information und Dokumentation (ZPID) (Hrsg.), Elektronisches Testarchi
- Scherhorn, G., Haas, H., Hellenthal, F., \& Seibold, S. (1999). Kausalitätsorientierungen. Zusammenstellung sozialwissenschaftlicher Items und Skalen (ZIS).
- Forstmeier, S., \& Maercker, A. (2011). Selbstkontrolle im höheren Erwachsenenalter: Eine deutsche Version des Delay Discounting Tests von Kirby. PPmP - Psychotherapie · Psychosomatik · Medizinische Psychologie, 61(06), e19-e33.
- Bornemann, B., Herbert, B. M., Mehling, W. E., \& Singer, T. (2015). Differential changes in self-reported aspects of interoceptive awareness through 3 months of contempl tive training. Frontiers in Psychology, 5.
- Jerusalem, M., \& Schwarzer, R. (2003). SWE - Skala zur Allgemeinen Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung. ZPID (Leibniz Institute for Psychology) - Open Test Archive.
- Grimm, Jürgen (Hg.) (2009): State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory nach Spielberger. Deutsche Lang- und Kurzversion. - Methodenforum der Universität Wien: MF-Working Paper 2009/02
- Lang, G., \& Bachinger, A. (2017). Validation of the German Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) in a community-based sample of adults in Austria: A bi-factor modelling approach. Journal of Public Health, 25(2), 135-146.
- Gueguen, M. C. M., Anlló, H., Bonagura, D., Kong, J., Hafezi, S., Palminteri, S., \& Konova, A. B. (2024). Recent Opioid Use Impedes Range Adaptation in Reinforcement Learning in Human Addiction. Biological Psychiatry, 95(10), 974-984.
- Liu, L., Artigas, S. O., Ulrich, A., Tardu, J., Mohr, P. N. C., Wilms, B., Koletzko, B., Schmid, S. M., \& Park, S. Q. (2021). Eating to dare- Nutrition impacts human risky decision and related brain function. NeuroImage, 233, 117951.
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Soyoung Q Park, Prof. Dr.
German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- BASIC SCIENCE
- Intervention Model
- CROSSOVER
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Prof. Dr.
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
March 18, 2025
First Posted
April 3, 2025
Study Start
August 28, 2025
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2026
Last Updated
April 21, 2026
Record last verified: 2025-09