Creativity and REsilience Through Arts, Technology and Emotions: A Pilot Study on the Feasibility and Validity of the...

Background/Objectives: Anxiety and depression are prevalent global health concerns, especially prominent in vulnerable groups such as older adults, individuals with chronic health conditions (e.g., neurodegeneration and cancer), and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Digital interventions, including computerized cognitive training (CCT), show promise in addressing emotional dysfunctions in a more accessible and cost-effective manner. The CREATE platform aims to enhance Emotion Regulation (ER) through targeted Working Memory (WM) training, aesthetic engagement, and creativity, while accounting for dopamine activity via spontaneous Eye Blink Rate (sEBR). The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the platform's feasibility and validity through a single pilot trial. Methods: The study enrolled twenty-seven healthy adults (aged 21-44) who completed standardized self-report questionnaires on sleep quality and ER. They were also enrolled in sEBR recordings and performed a CCT-adapted Corsi block-tapping task and an aesthetic art evaluation. Affective textual narratives and valence/arousal ratings were also collected. Participants were divided into "Good Sleepers" and "Poor Sleepers". The platform evaluation enrolled a multi-modal pipeline including correlations and regression analysis of intervention metrics, sentiment analysis, and group comparisons. Results: WM task performance correlated positively with global ER and Cognitive Reappraisal scores. Post-training sEBR was significantly associated with ER, and lower sleep efficiency negatively impacted changes in dopamine activity (sEBR Diff). Dopamine activity of "Good Sleepers", as indicated by sEBR, reached the high levels of the "Poor Sleepers" group after the training, suggesting a dopamine boost caused by the CREATE platform for those with quality sleep. Creativity and emotional expression, as indicated by sentiment analysis, were related to sleep quality. Conclusions: The CREATE platform shows promise in enhancing ER through multi-modal digital engagement, integrating cognitive training, art, and creativity. The findings support the inclusion of sleep and dopamine markers in intervention evaluation. Further studies with larger samples and clinical cohorts are warranted to establish efficacy and generalizability, as the present one was not powered to test the effectiveness of our training platform but was designed to assess its feasibility and validity instead.