Boosting the Cognitive Capacity and Mental Wealth of Working Australians.

Efficacy of computerized cognitive brain training compared to active control training in a group of Australian office-based workers on cognitive performance, psychological well being and workplace productivity.

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12610000604000

Enrollment

220

Registered

2010-07-26

Start date

2010-07-26

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Cognitive brain training, which involves repeated exercise on a range of cognitive problems, may help improve cognitive function and slow age-related mental decline. Previous studies of brain training have mainly focused on clinical populations, and so its effectiveness in healthy, working age individuals is not known. We therefore propose to measure the effectiveness of brain training across a wide range of outcomes with scientific, business and health relevance, including cognition, psychological wellbeing and workplace productivity.

Interventions

Computerised Cognitive Brain Training (CCBT) will be conducted during normal work hours and delivered via the ‘Spark!’ online system directly to the subject’s normal work computer. Regime is 3 sessions a week, of 20 minutes each for a total of 16 weeks. The Spark! CCBT program comprises 36 of HappyNeuron Inc’s suite of cognitive exercises. These exercises target the cognitive domains of memory, attention, language, executive functions and visuospatial abilities in a drill and practice fashion. Multi-domain training is likely to be maximally effective as suggested by our recent systematic review . During each session, subjects will practice a number of exercises from across a range of cognitive domains, and gradually be challenged by exercises of greater complexity and cognitive demand during the course of the 4-month period in an individualized manner prescribed by the system’s in-built algorithms. This system is propriety software of The Brain Department Pty Ltd.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

Volunteers employed for a minimum of 6 months at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Debt Capability division.

Exclusion criteria

1. No other current form of brain training 2. No forecast leave of work for more than 3 continuous weeks 3. No current mental health issue affecting cognition - absence of medical treatment for major depression, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder 4. No history of recurrent mental health issue - absence of three or more episodes of major depression or bipolar disorder requiring medical treatment in last 5 years 5. No current or history of alcohol or drug abuse 6. No history of suicide attempt

Outcome results