Short-term Cognitive Training in Late-life Depression

The Effects of Short-term Cognitive Training on Cognition and Mood Symptoms in Late-life Depression: A Pilot Study

Status

Terminated

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01748032

Enrollment

Registered

2012-12-12

Start date

2012-08-31

Completion date

2014-09-30

Last updated

2016-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression

Keywords

depression, intervention studies

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the alternative uses training (AUT) and word association training (WAT) on cognitive functions and mood symptoms in late-life depression (LLD). The hypotheses are: 1. post-training cognitive performance will be superior to pre-training cognitive performance 2. post-training depressive symptomatology will be less severe as compared with pre-training clinical severity and 3. AUT group will show better post-training cognitive performance and improved mood symptoms when compared with the WAT group.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCognitive training

20 minutes/day for 5 sequential working days

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

55 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Male or female * Age \>=55 * Proficiency in English * Current depressive episode and meet criteria for DSM-IV major depressive disorder * Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score \>=15 * Able to give informed consent * Stable medication dosages during the training period

Exclusion criteria

* Other DSM-IV Axis I psychiatric disorders, except for anxiety disorders due to high comorbidity with mood disorders * Mini-Mental State Examination score of \<26 * Diagnosis of dementia * Neurological and medical conditions known to affect cognition (e.g., stroke, head injury, previous chemotherapy for cancer) * Unstable medical illnesses requiring active treatment * Vision or hearing impairment affecting ability to participate in training

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Changes in cognitive functions including fluid intelligence, executive function, language, memory and motor speed	Within 3 days before the first cognitive training day and within 3 days after the last cognitive training day	Computerized Executive Tasks: * Number-Letter Task * Letter-Memory Task * Stroop Task Non-Computerized Measures: * Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test * Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Changes in mood including depression, anxiety and apathy	Within 3 days before the first cognitive training day and within 3 days after the last cognitive training day	* Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) * Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) * Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (Ham-A) * Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)

Countries

Canada

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026