Deafness, Speech Intelligibility
Conditions
Keywords
cochlear implants, speech comprehension, cognitive training, cognitive fitness, intervention, memory, attention, rehabilitation
Brief summary
In this study we are testing computer-based brain fitness exercises. The games are designed to improve people's cognitive abilities brain functions, like memory, concentration, and ability to do two things at once. We are testing whether this cognitive training brain exercises will improve understanding of spoken sentences speech comprehension in people who use cochlear implant and/or hearing aids. We predict that cognitive training will improve speech comprehension in cochlear implant and/or hearing aid users.
Detailed description
Aural rehabilitation is a life long process in spite of advanced innovative implant technology. Existing standard therapy is inadequate for some people, because even after years of surgery many implant users does not obtain significant benefits, like improved understanding of spoken sentences. In many cases it seems that the speech comprehension deficits are linked to particular cognitive functions in cochlear implant users, including memory and attention. In this study we will test whether a computer-based set of cognitive fitness or brain training games designed to improve memory and attention will help cochlear implant and hearing aid users to understand speech better. Cochlear implant and hearing aid users will complete 10 weeks of computer-based cognitive training on their home computers. Half of participants will do this training immediately after being enrolled in the study; the other half will receive the training beginning 10 weeks after they are enrolled. Speech comprehension and cognitive abilities will be assessed at baseline, 10, 20 and 30 weeks in all participants.
Interventions
OTHERCognitive fitness training
Computer-based training of basic cognitive functions. It has activities under two headings, 1. General training applications 2. Memory training applications Each individual session in both groups will include playing specific computer games for at least 1/2 hour a day, 3 days per week, throughout the 10 week interval.
Sponsors
University of Oslo
CogniFit Limited
Aaron Newman
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
19 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adult cochlear implant users, and/or people with moderate/severe hearing loss using bilateral hearing aids, aged 19 or above * Access to an internet-connect device that supports flash, and basic computer skills * Medically stable patients
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with epilepsy, severe visual and cognitive difficulties, chronic fatigue syndrome, and serious co-morbid conditions which could be exacerbated by the computer training games will be excluded for safety reasons. * Patients who are unlikely to adhere to the intervention due to dementia, Parkinson's disease, Parkinson-plus syndrome, movement disorders or disability that would impair the person's ability to perform the training (e.g., problems with attention, alertness, or learning disorders) * Participants who cannot speak English (since study materials are only in English), or unable to give consent.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| AzBio Sentence test - change in score from baseline to post-training | Baseline, Weeks 10, 20 and 30 | Sentences are played along with masking noise (multi-talker babble). Participants must repeat each sentence as they heard it. Accuracy in repeating the sentences is the outcome measure. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Baseline in CANTABeclipse for clinical trials | Baseline, Weeks 10, 20 and 30 | It is a method of assessing the brain-functions of a person using computerized non-linguistic tests by touch screen technology making it rapid and safe. It has been widely used globally to assess brain-functions in more than 100 disorders. More than 700 articles have been published using CANTABeclipse by over 500 academic institutions or industry researchers in 60 different countries. Tasks are performed by touch screen technology. It assesses brain-functions such as planning, problem solving, working memory etc. |
| Change from Baseline in Speech Spatial Qualities questionnaire | Baseline, Weeks 10, 20 and 30 | The Spatial Speech Qualities of Hearing scale questionnaire (SSQ; Gatehouse & Noble, 2004) is used to assess the self reported hearing disabilities across several domains such as hearing speech in challenging contexts and to the directional, distance and movement components of spatial hearing. |
| Change from Baseline in CogniFit NeuroPsychological Assessment | Baseline, Weeks 10, 20 and 30 | The CogniFit Neuropsychological assessment is a multi domain cognitive task. It measures 18 cognitive abilities such as visuospatial working memory, visuospatial learning, focused attention, updating, monitoring etc. (Haimov et al., 2008; Peretz et al., 2011b; Shatil et al., 2010; Verghese et al., 2010) |
| Adherence record | Upto 30 weeks | Access usage data from CogniFit website will be recorded. Recording includes time spent on each session (start and end time), number of games played during each session |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed