None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Cognitive training has been used to improve mental functions in people with early dementia and those with mild cognitive impairment, who are at risk of future dementia. This is potentially the first study however, to examine systematically varied cognitive training aimed at enhancing the functions of a brain system, called the default mode system, which malfunctions in people progressing to dementia. We anticipate that people given our cognitive enrichment will show benefits in the structure and function of this brain system, in addition to improved mental functions.
Interventions
Cognitive enrichment: (a) 3 or 4 x 1 hour session per week for 24 weeks (3 or 4 based on participant choice / feasibility) and (b) provided at home through a combination of support person / significant other and research psychologists, with weekly visits and telephone support (minimum of one 5 min call every fortnight, up to 20 minutes if required or weekly if required).
Sponsors
New Zealand Brain Research Institute
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
60 Years to 85 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
mild cognitive impairment: two measures reaching 1.5 SD below age and education matched normative data within any of the the domains of "executive function, attention and working memory, visuospatial function, language, and episodic memory", and without significant impairment to everyday functional activities (Reisberg IADLS).
Exclusion criteria
dementia; current psychiatric or other medical condition affecting cognitive abilities; early developmental disorder
Outcome results
None listed