HealthyNCT07665242
Chatbot Intervention Effects on Social and Monetary Incentive Processing in Anhedonia
A study testing MI Chatbot Interaction in people with Healthy, run by University of Electronic Science and Technology of China at 1 site in China.
Trial summary
The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of a Motivational Interviewing-based artificial intelligence chatbot on social incentive processing in college students with elevated levels of depression and anhedonia by combining a randomized active-control intervention design with pre- and… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 40 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthy
- What is being tested?
- MI Chatbot Interaction
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 80 participants
- Where
- 1 siteChina
- Study dates
- 20 Jun 2026to 31 Dec 2028
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 40 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult
Who may be able to join
- 18-40 years
- Right-handed
- Normal or corrected normal visual acuity
- Participants must show elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms at screening, defined as a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory
Who cannot join
- History of major central nervous system disorders, such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, or brain tumors.
- History of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorders.
- History of substance or alcohol use disorder or substance or alcohol misuse within the past 12 months that may affect study participation or outcome assessment.
- Individuals currently at high risk of suicide, severe self-harm, or experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis.
- Individuals who are currently using psychiatric medications or have undergone psychotherapy within the past 4 weeks that may significantly affect mood, motivation, or reward processing.
- Severe vision or hearing impairments that cannot be corrected and would interfere with task performance.
- Contraindications to MRI scanning, including metallic implants, pacemakers, severe claustrophobia, or other conditions incompatible with MRI.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
China1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuan
About this study
Official title: Effects of a Chatbot-Based Intervention on Behavioral Responsiveness and Neural Anticipation of Social and Monetary Incentives in Individuals With Anhedonia
The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of a Motivational Interviewing-based artificial intelligence chatbot on social incentive processing in college students with elevated levels of depression and anhedonia by combining a randomized active-control intervention design with pre- and post-intervention Social Incentive Delay Task assessments during fMRI.
Read the detailed description
Anhedonia represents a core characteristic of depression and is characterized by reduced experience of pleasure. It is closely related to decreased motivation, altered reward processing, changes in affective responsiveness, and alterations in intrinsic brain network function. Anhedonia is not specifically targeted by currently available pharmacological interventions. Initial evidence indicates that an increased willingness to change and implementation of change in daily life can alleviate anhedonia.
The present study aims to examine whether a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot can lead to changes in social incentive processing in college students with elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms. Social incentive processing is included because social approval, social feedback, and interpersonal reward are important sources of motivation in daily life and may be altered in individuals with elevated anhedonia. The Social Incentive Delay Task allows the study to examine behavioral and neural responses during the anticipation and receipt of social incentives. To this end, eligible participants with a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory will undergo a randomized, between-subjects, active-control intervention study. Participants will be assigned to either a Motivational Interviewing-based chatbot group or an active control chatbot group for 1 week. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include self-report questionnaires and the Social Incentive Delay Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine psychological, behavioral, and neural effects of the intervention.
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Being tested
- MI Chatbot Interaction, Active Control Chatbot Interaction
- Keywords
- fMRI, AI Interaction
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
MI Chatbot InteractionBehavioural
The experimental chatbot is designed to use principles of Motivational Interviewing to support participants in exploring their personal values, motivation for change, and daily behavioral goals related to pleasure, engagement, and reward-seeking. During the intervention period, participants will interact with the chatbot regularly through brief text-based conversations. The chatbot will provide empathic, non-judgmental responses, encourage reflection on current difficulties, and help participants identify small, feasible actions that may increase daily engagement and positive experiences. It will not provide diagnosis, crisis counseling, or medical treatment.
Active Control Chatbot InteractionBehavioural
Participants will interact with a chatbot matched in format and frequency of use. This chatbot will provide neutral nature-related stories or general natural history content. It will be designed to maintain participant engagement while avoiding therapeutic techniques, motivational interviewing strategies, behavioral activation guidance, or personalized mental health advice. This active control condition will help control for nonspecific effects of chatbot interaction, attention, expectancy, and digital engagement.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot group | Experimental | Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention Receives: Behavioral: MI Chatbot Interaction |
| Active control chatbot group | Active comparator | Active control nature-story chatbot intervention Receives: Behavioral: Active Control Chatbot Interaction |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Neural Activity During Social Incentive Anticipation
Participants will undergo task-based BOLD fMRI while completing the Social Incentive Delay Task. Neural responses during the anticipation of social incentive cues will be compared with responses to neutral cues using a general linear model. Pre-to-post intervention changes will be evaluated from the resulting beta contrast estimates.
Measured: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Neural Activity During Monetary Incentive Anticipation
Task-based BOLD fMRI data will be acquired while participants perform the Monetary Incentive Delay Task. Neural responses associated with the anticipation of monetary reward and punishment will be estimated using a general linear model. Beta contrast estimates will be calculated for monetary reward versus neutral and monetary punishment versus neutral conditions. These estimates will be used to assess changes between baseline and post-intervention.
Measured: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Secondary outcomes (2)
Behavioral Responsiveness to Social Incentive Cues
Reaction time, accuracy, and hit rate will be calculated separately for social incentive cue conditions and neutral cue conditions in the Social Incentive Delay Task before and after the intervention. Behavioral differences between social incentive and neutral cue conditions will also be derived and compared from baseline to post-intervention.
Measured: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Behavioral responsiveness to monetary incentives
The Monetary Incentive Delay Task will be administered before and after the intervention. Reaction time, accuracy, and hit rate will be extracted separately for monetary incentive cue conditions and neutral cue conditions, and changes in behavioral differences between monetary incentive and neutral cue conditions will be calculated.
Measured: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted24 Jun 2026
- Study start20 Jun 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Jun 2028 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for HealthyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Between-subject randomized controlled trial comparing a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention with an active control chatbot intervention.
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Investigator
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Benjamin Becker, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07665242
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- BAM_lab_MI_03
- Status last verified
- Jun 2026
- First submitted
- 17 Jun 2026
- Last updated
- 9 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Corresponding individual level data will be made available upon request.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 9 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effects of a Chatbot-Based Intervention on Behavioral Responsiveness and Neural Anticipation of Social and Monetary Incentives in Individuals With Anhedonia
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07665242
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- BAM_lab_MI_03
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Keywords
- fMRI, AI Interaction
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 20 Jun 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Jun 2028 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2028 (estimated)
- First posted
- 24 Jun 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of a Motivational Interviewing-based artificial intelligence chatbot on social incentive processing in college students with elevated levels of depression and anhedonia by combining a randomized active-control intervention design with pre- and post-intervention Social Incentive Delay Task assessments during fMRI.
Detailed description
Anhedonia represents a core characteristic of depression and is characterized by reduced experience of pleasure. It is closely related to decreased motivation, altered reward processing, changes in affective responsiveness, and alterations in intrinsic brain network function. Anhedonia is not specifically targeted by currently available pharmacological interventions. Initial evidence indicates that an increased willingness to change and implementation of change in daily life can alleviate anhedonia.
The present study aims to examine whether a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot can lead to changes in social incentive processing in college students with elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms. Social incentive processing is included because social approval, social feedback, and interpersonal reward are important sources of motivation in daily life and may be altered in individuals with elevated anhedonia. The Social Incentive Delay Task allows the study to examine behavioral and neural responses during the anticipation and receipt of social incentives. To this end, eligible participants with a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory will undergo a randomized, between-subjects, active-control intervention study. Participants will be assigned to either a Motivational Interviewing-based chatbot group or an active control chatbot group for 1 week. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include self-report questionnaires and the Social Incentive Delay Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine psychological, behavioral, and neural effects of the intervention.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (participant, investigator)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Between-subject randomized controlled trial comparing a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention with an active control chatbot intervention.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot group | Experimental | Behavioral: MI Chatbot InteractionMotivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention |
| Active control chatbot group | Active comparator | Behavioral: Active Control Chatbot InteractionActive control nature-story chatbot intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 40 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- 18-40 years
- Right-handed
- Normal or corrected normal visual acuity
- Participants must show elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms at screening, defined as a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory
Key exclusion criteria (8 listed)
- History of major central nervous system disorders, such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, or brain tumors.
- History of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorders.
- History of substance or alcohol use disorder or substance or alcohol misuse within the past 12 months that may affect study participation or outcome assessment.
- Individuals currently at high risk of suicide, severe self-harm, or experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis.
- Individuals who are currently using psychiatric medications or have undergone psychotherapy within the past 4 weeks that may significantly affect mood, motivation, or reward processing.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| MI Chatbot InteractionThe experimental chatbot is designed to use principles of Motivational Interviewing to support participants in exploring their personal values, motivation for change, and daily behavioral goals related to pleasure, engagement, and reward-seeking. During the intervention period, participants will interact with the chatbot regularly through brief text-based conversations. The chatbot will provide empathic, non-judgmental responses, encourage reflection on current difficulties, and help participants identify small, feasible actions that may increase daily engagement and positive experiences. It will not provide diagnosis, crisis counseling, or medical treatment. | Behavioural | Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot group |
| Active Control Chatbot InteractionParticipants will interact with a chatbot matched in format and frequency of use. This chatbot will provide neutral nature-related stories or general natural history content. It will be designed to maintain participant engagement while avoiding therapeutic techniques, motivational interviewing strategies, behavioral activation guidance, or personalized mental health advice. This active control condition will help control for nonspecific effects of chatbot interaction, attention, expectancy, and digital engagement. | Behavioural | Active control chatbot group |
Primary outcome
Neural Activity During Social Incentive Anticipation
Time frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Participants will undergo task-based BOLD fMRI while completing the Social Incentive Delay Task. Neural responses during the anticipation of social incentive cues will be compared with responses to neutral cues using a general linear model. Pre-to-post intervention changes will be evaluated from the resulting beta contrast estimates.
Neural Activity During Monetary Incentive Anticipation
Time frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Task-based BOLD fMRI data will be acquired while participants perform the Monetary Incentive Delay Task. Neural responses associated with the anticipation of monetary reward and punishment will be estimated using a general linear model. Beta contrast estimates will be calculated for monetary reward versus neutral and monetary punishment versus neutral conditions. These estimates will be used to assess changes between baseline and post-intervention.
2 secondary outcomes
Behavioral Responsiveness to Social Incentive Cues
Time frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Behavioral responsiveness to monetary incentives
Time frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 9 Jul 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Corresponding individual level data will be made available upon request.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing MI Chatbot Interaction in people with Healthy, run by University of Electronic Science and Technology of China at 1 site in China.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 9 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Benjamin Becker, Dr ((852) 3917-5097, bbecker@hku.hk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Neural Activity During Social Incentive Anticipation (time frame: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 9 Jul 2026.