Aging, Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment
Conditions
Keywords
recollection training, aging, amnestic mild cognitive impairment, fMRI
Brief summary
We have developed a training intervention that successfully improves older adults' memory. We have also shown that older adults whose memory is as good as younger adults' memory (Hi-Old) use an altered pattern of memory-related brain activity compared to younger adults, whereas healthy older adults with poorer memory (Lo-Old) do not. We have also shown that individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) have impairments of conscious, effortful, Recollection-based memory processes, whereas their automatic, Familiarity-based memory processes are intact. Our primary current goal is to investigate whether our successful memory intervention will improve Recollection and produce induce altered patterns of brain activity in the Lo-Old and aMCI. Young, Lo-Old, Hi-Old, and aMCI will be scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing two memory tasks. Half of the Lo-Old and half of the aMCI will then receive the memory intervention, while the other half in each group will receive a control program consisting of information and games about aging. The Lo-Old and aMCI will then be rescanned while performing the two memory tasks. We predict that the memory intervention will improve performance on a number of memory tasks, and will induce altered patterns of brain activity. In the Lo-Old, their brain activity after the memory intervention will look more like the Hi-Old, while brain activity will become more focal in the aMCI.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALRecollection Training
Participants are exposed to long lists of words. Each word is presented either visually or auditorily, and each word is repeated after a variable number of intervening words (the lag), in each the same modality, or the other modality. Participants are instructed to respond yes only to words repeated in the same modality. If a performance criterion is met, the lag is increased for the next session; if the performance criterion is not met, the same lag is repeated in the next session.
BEHAVIORALControl
Participants view PowerPoint presentations on various topics related to memory and aging (e.g., structural brain changes, diet, stress, depression) and how each of these topics affect memory, and after each presentation, play a Jeopardy-like game to test their knowledge gain
Sponsors
Baycrest
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 65-90 years old * English as a first language or learned before kindergarten * Right handed
Exclusion criteria
* Neurologic disorder * Major medical disorder affecting cognition * Psychiatric disorder * Metal in the body that poses a hazard in the MRI scanner
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recollection estimates | Immediately post-training and three months post-training | Recollection, defined as Correct yes responses to Same repetitions minus Incorrect yes responses to Different repetitions, as a function of condition (trained versus control), lag (3, 16) and time (pre-, post-, and 3 month follow-up) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Brain activation as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging | Immediately post-training | Prefrontal (inferior, middle, and superior frontal gyri) activation for Different Repetitions minus Same Repetitions, as a function of group (trained versus control), lag (3, 16), and time (pre, post). Additional analyses will compare trained versus control older adults with younger adults on these measures at baseline (pre). Analyses will include an exploration of prefrontal laterality of the effects (left minus right), to see whether training induces greater bilaterality of activation. |
| Transfer to other recollection-dependent task and to subjective memory measures | Immediately post-training and three months post-training | Source memory, self-ordered pointing, n-back, a Sternberg task, CVLT, an AB-AC test of proactive interference, the Memory Controllability Inventory, Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (Ability and Contentment subscales), Meta-Memory in Adulthood questionnaire (locus of control, anxiety, and capability subscales), and an in-house measure of the efficacy of the control program |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed