The Effects of Exercise on Emotion Regulation and Cognitive Control in PTSD

Launched by MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · Dec 6, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how a single session of aerobic exercise might help women with significant symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) manage their emotions and improve their thinking abilities. In the study, 50 adult females will be divided into two groups: one group will do 20 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise, while the other group will sit quietly for the same amount of time. Researchers will monitor their brain activity before and after these sessions to see how exercise affects their ability to regulate emotions and think clearly.

To be eligible for this trial, participants must be women aged between 18 and 65 who are currently experiencing significant PTSD symptoms, as determined by a questionnaire. However, those with certain health issues, such as heart problems or orthopedic limitations that could prevent them from exercising safely, will not be able to participate. Participants can expect to engage in a short exercise session or quiet sitting while contributing to important research that may help improve treatment options for PTSD in the future.

Gender

FEMALE

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Female Adults who are currently experiencing clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Participants will be screened via Qualtrics using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for the DSM-5 (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013). The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-administered questionnaire designed to screen for PTSD. The PCL-5 asks about the frequency of PTSD symptoms experienced in the past month using a 5-point Likert scale. Participants with a total score \> 30 on the PCL-5 will be eligible to participate.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Using the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q; Adams, 1999), participants will be excluded if they endorse any history of cardiovascular (e.g., Coronary Artery Disease, Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure) or metabolic disease (e.g., Diabetes), or any orthopedic limitations (e.g., Osteoporosis) that may interfere with participating in aerobic exercise.
• • Additionally, participants must not have a history of head trauma resulting in loss of consciousness for more than 5 min, epilepsy, or hearing, visual, or other physical or mental impairments that could interfere with the collection of quality neurocognitive data.