NCT06123182 · RECRUITING
Guided Episodic Future Thinking to Increase Physical Activity Adherence and Promote Healthy Brain Aging
This study tests whether guided mental imagery, like picturing your future self enjoying exercise, makes mid-life adults more excited about working out and more likely to stick with it. Everyone does a 6-week in-person high-intensity exercise program. Testing includes MRI and blood draws. It is a behavioral study with no phase, so it is not a drug trial.
You may qualify if
- speak English
- have access to reliable communication (a telephone or cell phone, computer, etc.)
- normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing
- ambulatory (without the use of assistive devices)
- physically underactive
- able to give informed consent
- able to exercise continuously on the recumbent stepper exercise device for 4 minutes greater than or equal to 25 watts to demonstrate ability to perform exercise on stepper \& no aerobic exercise contraindications or other safety/physical concerns
- able to communicate with investigators, follow 2-step command \& correctly answer consent comprehension questions
- stable blood pressure and statin medication doses for 30 days as these affect vascular health/hemodynamics
- willing and able to safely enter magnetic resonance (MR) scanner and attempt the MR scan
- willing and able to attempt a blood draw
You're excluded if
- patients with arrhythmias or acute cardiac events will be excluded due to potential complications with the supervised moderate exercise
- at risk for hazard due to magnetic fields due to MR safety concerns
- have any neurologic or psychiatric disorder except depression, anxiety (including post-traumatic stress disorder)
- have history of seizures or head trauma due to MR data quality
The sponsor's own eligibility wording, lightly reformatted. The study team makes the final eligibility decision — worth discussing with your doctor.
Eligibility criteria as of 2026-03-27