None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Recent findings on aging, as opposed to older scientific account, argue that the cognitive decline experienced during the later years in life is not inevitable. A stimulating environment is a potent catalyst to facilitate learning among older adults and may contribute to improvement in cognitive functioning and promote successful aging (Greenwood & Parasuraman, 2012). Video game playing is one of the popular interventions aimed to improve cognitive function among older adults. Studies have shown that older adults may benefit from a regular 30 to 60 minutes of gaming per day (Anderson-Hanley et al., 2014; Whitlock, McLaughlin, & Allaire, 2012). Positive changes in cognitive domains such as executive function, processing speed, and memory observed through video game play (e.g. Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides, & Perrig (2008), Nouchi et al. (2012), Anguera et al. (2013)). Encouraging findings have been shown in an experimental study by Anguera et al. (2013) which revealed older adults who played a multitask simulation game for 4 weeks experienced brain activation exceeding young adults who have not played video games. The benefits of gaming are not limited to cognition, but include physical functions and wellbeing (Y.-Y. Chao, Scherer, & Montgomery, 2015). Exergame is a type of game that requires not only cognitive, but also physical involvement of its players. Therefore, it is no surprise that burgeoning literature on exergaming effect to not only cognitive, but also the physical benefits. For example, Maillot, Perrot and Hartley (2012) revealed a significant improvement in heart rate, muscle strength, and balance after 14 weeks of Nintendo Wii compared to a no-contact control group. Parallel with physical enhancement, cognitive benefits are also observed post-training with significant positive changes in executive functioning and processing speed among older adults. Interestingly, cognition is not the only function that received the beneficial impact of physical activity. A shorter sleep latency and higher sleep efficiency reported among older adults with aquatic exercise (Chen, Fox, Ku, & Chang, 2015). Additionally, gaming also has positive effects towards older adults’ quality of life indicated by a higher well-being score and fewer depressive symptoms after weeks of game playing (Ballesteros et al., 2014; Y. Y. Chao, Scherer, Montgomery, Wu, & Lucke, 2014). The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of video game playing in older adults on cognitive performance, physical performance, sleep quality, and quality of life. Based on the existing literature, the study came to hypothesize that there will be significant differences in cognitive and physical performance between the groups of older adults, as well as in their sleep and quality of life.
Interventions
This study will involve older adults playing video games in the lab for a duration of 6 weeks with the total training hours of 18. Participants will be allocated into 4 separate groups (i.e. 1 control group, 3 training groups), each with different training intervention. The intervention arms are as follows:
1. Training group 1
The participants in this group will play the Nintendo 3DS Brain Age for an hour, 3
sessions per week over 6 weeks. The participants will play a number of min
This study will involve older adults playing video games in the lab for a duration of 6 weeks with the total training hours of 18. Participants will be allocated into 4 separate groups (i.e. 1 control group, 3 training groups), each with different training intervention. The intervention arms are as follows: 1. Training group 1 The participants in this group will play the Nintendo 3DS Brain Age for an hour, 3 sessions per week over 6 weeks. The participants will play a number of mini game that emphasizes on memory, mathematical and language abilities using a handheld device, operated using both touch screen and voice recognition. 2. Training group 2 will play the Nintendo Wii Sports for an hour, 3 sessions per week over 6 weeks. For this game, participants are required to play in accordance with the image in the screen the using a handheld Wii remote. This remote will control the graphic images via players' body movement. The Wii sports package includes tennis, bowling, golf, baseball, and boxing game 3. Training Group 3 will play the Nintendo 3DS Brain Age and Wii Sports for an hour, 3 sessions per week over 6 weeks. For this group, the participants will play Nintendo 3DS for the first half and Wii Sports for the second half of the training session. A battery of performance measures, evaluating cognitive and physical performance, as well as sleep and quality of life, will be administered at the baseline, fourth week and the sixth week of the study. The trainer (i.e. research student) will provide a tutorial before the start of the study by explaining and demonstrating how the to play the game, and also supervising game playing sessions.
Sponsors
University of Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. Male and female adults aged 60 years and over 2. Able to ambulate 3. Normal and/or corrected visual sensory 4. Non-expert console gamers, defined as playing video games less than 1 hr/week for the past 2 years (Boot, Kramer, Simons, Fabiani, & Gratton, 2008) 5. Scores 24 or higher on Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975) 6. Do not have risk against physical activity 7. Have less than two moderate to vigorous aerobic or resistance training sessions of more than 20 minutes per week (Moul, Goldman, & Warren, 2005), and 8. Understand written and spoken English
Exclusion criteria
Diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorders, mental health disorders and epilepsy
Outcome results
None listed