Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
ACRD, Visual Memory, Visual Perception, Speed, Computerized, SAAGE, Cognitive Decline
Brief summary
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the learnability of a 3 week, 40 minutes per day, 5 day per week, computer-based visual training exercise by healthy mature individuals undergoing normal aging.
Detailed description
Virtually all adults will suffer a decline in their cognitive capacities to some degree. Typically, cognitive decline is characterized by a slow, progressive decline in abilities (frequently in memory, attention, inhibition and speed of processing) relative to younger adults, commonly called normal aging, age-associated memory impairment, age-consistent memory impairment, benign senescent forgetfulness, late-life forgetfulness, ageing-associated cognitive decline, and the preferred term, age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) As virtually all adults experience a reduction in their cognitive abilities with age, ARCD has generally been considered to be a normal, inevitable, and irreversible part of aging; and the extremely severe forms of pathological cognitive decline (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, AD) have dominated therapeutic research in this area. However, ARCD represents an important cause of quality of life decline in almost every older adult, as the impact of forgetfulness and mental slowing increasingly change the abilities of individuals to successfully manage their day-to-day activities. Therapeutic approaches targeting the specific problems of ARCD in normal aging (as opposed to the pathological problems of AD) would unto themselves represent important clinical advances. This trial investigates the effects of a computer-based visual training exercise built on the principles of positive brain plasticity and designed for use by healthy mature individuals. The program is specifically designed to improve the fidelity of sensory representations in early visual cortex.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSAAGE-designed, visual memory-based cognitive training
Training sessions take 40 minutes per day, five days per week for a total goal of 15, 40-minute sessions.
Sponsors
University of San Francisco
Posit Science Corporation
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Age 60 or older at the time of consent. * Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score of 26 or higher. * Adequate visual capacity adequate to read. * Adequate hearing capacity. * Willing and able to commit to study time requirements.
Exclusion criteria
* Self-report of current diagnosis or history of major neurological illness. * Self-report of current diagnosis or history of psychiatric illness. c. History of psychiatric hospitalization in the past twenty years. * History of a stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) or traumatic brain injury within the past year; or lifetime history of stroke, TIA, or traumatic brain injury that has left residual expressive or receptive language problems. - Fibromyalgia or symptoms of severe tremor. * Self-report of current substance abuse, including alcoholism. * Current useof medications with substantial CNS effects. Inappropriate behaviors during screening or baseline visits. * Inability to perform behavioral evaluations. * Participant is not capable of giving informed consent or unable to comprehend and/or follow instructions. * Participant is enrolled in a concurrent clinical study that could affect the outcome of this study.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Improvement in visual memory assessment after training or no-contact period. | 6-8 weeks |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Improvement on at least 1 of the Computerized Visual Attention, Speed and Memory Tests conducted. | 6-8 weeks |
| Improvement on the computerized cognitive assessments. | 6-8 weeks |
| Improvement on exercise-based assessments. | 6-8 weeks |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactDaniel Tinker, BS
Backup ContactCate Stasio, BA
Outcome results
None listed