Recruiting

Episodic Future Thinking

Sponsor:

University of Kansas Medical Center

Code:

NCT06123182

Conditions

Exercise Training

Aging

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 45 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking

Episodic Recent Thinking

Positive Affective Imagery

Neutral Affective Imagery

HIIT Exercise Intervention

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this behavioral clinical trial is to learn how to increase physical activity in mid-life adults. Specifically, can guided imagery that includes creating mental pictures increase excitement about working out.

Participants will be asked to complete testing at the beginning of the study, following 6-weeks of an in-person exercise program, and 6-weeks after finishing the exercise program. Testing will include an exercise test, MRI, questionnaires, computer tasks, and a blood draw.

Conditions

Exercise Training

Aging

Study ID

NCT06123182

Start date

Feb 23, 2024

Status verified date

Mar, 2026

Completion date

May, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

May, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 45 - 65

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 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

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 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

Study Design

Enrollment

160 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Factorial

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) + Positive Affective Imagery (PAI)

Assigned guided imagery will be delivered during each exercise session throughout the 6-week exercise program. The guided imagery recordings will be delivered via audio recording during warm-up and cool-down periods during in-lab exercise sessions. The EFT will always be delivered during warm-up and the PAI will always be delivered during cool-down.

experimental: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) + Neutral Affective Imagery (NAI)

Assigned guided imagery will be delivered during each exercise session throughout the 6-week exercise program. The guided imagery recordings will be delivered via audio recording during warm-up and cool-down periods during in-lab exercise sessions. The EFT will always be delivered during warm-up and the NAI will always be delivered during cool-down.

experimental: Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) + Positive Affective Imagery (PAI)

Assigned guided imagery will be delivered during each exercise session throughout the 6-week exercise program. The guided imagery recordings will be delivered via audio recording during warm-up and cool-down periods during in-lab exercise sessions. The ERT will always be delivered during warm-up and the PAI will always be delivered during cool-down.

active comparator: Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) + Neutral Affective Imagery (NAI)

Assigned guided imagery will be delivered during each exercise session throughout the 6-week exercise program. The guided imagery recordings will be delivered via audio recording during warm-up and cool-down periods during in-lab exercise sessions. The ERT will always be delivered during warm-up and the NAI will always be delivered during cool-down.

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking

During the audio recorded guided imagery exercise participants will be asked to think in detail of a future (6 months to a year) where they have made healthy choices regarding physical activity and are physically active.

Episodic Recent Thinking

During the audio recorded guided imagery exercise participants will be asked to think about a routine weekly activity.

Positive Affective Imagery

During the audio recorded guided imagery exercise participants will be asked to think in detail about the positive outcomes and sensations associated with an exercise bout.

Neutral Affective Imagery

During the audio recorded guided imagery exercise participants will be asked to think in detail about the physical sensations associated with an exercise bout.

HIIT Exercise Intervention

The high intensity interval training (HIIT) will be conducted 2 times per week for 6 weeks. The duration of each individual exercise session will last about 45 minutes. After the 5-minute warm-up at 30% peak workload, HIIT will consist of repeated 1-minute high intensity bursts ("on" interval) alternated with 1-minute interval recovery ("off" interval) for 25 minutes. The "on" interval will begin at 80% of peak watts (range: 75%-85%) followed by the "off" interval at 10% of peak watts. The session will end with up to 10 minute cool-down at 20% peak workload.

Primary outcome measure

  • Adherence to HIIT exercise [ Time Frame: 1 to 6-weeks ]
  • The Monetary-Choice Questionnaire [ Time Frame: 1 to 6-weeks ]
  • Positive Affect [ Time Frame: 1 to 6-weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Morgan Brucks

(913) 588-0173mbrucks@kumc.edu

Locations

University of Kansas Medical Center

Recruiting

Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160

Contacts

Morgan Brucks, B.A.

(913) 588-0173

More Information

Sponsor

University of Kansas Medical Center

Last update posted

Mar 27, 2026

Last verified

Mar, 2026

Keywords

  • Adherence
  • Guided Imagery

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Kansas Medical Center on 2026-03-27.