Project ONTRAC in Northern India

Jyoti Mishra (PI)

Project ONTRAC (Online Neuroplasticity Training for Remediation of ADHD in Children) was led by Dr. Jyoti Mishra in collaboration with the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) hospital in New Delhi, India. Dr. Mishra developed a novel computerized intervention to enhance attention capacities and suppress distractibility in children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The research was conducted as a randomized clinical trial and showed significant improvement in clinical symptoms in children who underwent the ONTRAC training vs. an active control group. Notably, training benefits continued to be observed one year from baseline. This research is a first example of a cost-effective and scalable digital intervention serving children in a low-resource global mental health setting.

Relevant Publications:

• Mishra J, Sagar R, Joseph A, Gazzaley A, Merzenich M. (2016). Training sensory signal-to-noise resolution in children with ADHD in a global mental health setting. Nature Translational Psychiatry 6, e781. PMID: 27070409.
• Mishra J, Merzenich MM, Sagar R. (2013). Accessible online neuroplasticity-targeted training for children with ADHD. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 7:38-40. PMCID: PMC3828475.
• Mishra J. (2013). Global collaboration. Science 346: 47-49.
• ONTRAC Clinical Trial