Age-related Cognitive Decline
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this research is to examine whether and to what extent training of different types of cognitive engagement will improve performance on fluid cognitive abilities that typically decline with age. The research covered by this protocol will use behavioral data that yield response latencies and accuracies of the untrained tasks, and brain activations in fMRI tasks, to test specific hypotheses about neural plasticity and cognitive plasticity from these engagement techniques. Hence, human subjects will be employed in an experiment lasting for 20 hours spanning over 2 months where they will either receive real-time strategy-based videogame training or crystallized intelligence training. In addition, long-term retention data will be obtained after 6 month post-training to investigate any long-term benefits.
Detailed description
The purpose of this research is to examine whether and to what extent training of different types of cognitive engagement will improve performance on fluid cognitive abilities that typically decline with age (such as, speed of information processing, working memory capacity, episodic memory, and executive functions). The research covered by this protocol will use behavioral data that yield response latencies and accuracies of the untrained tasks, and brain activations in fMRI tasks, to test specific hypotheses about the extent of transfer, if any, and the underlying cognitive constructs that may be trained in the process. Hence, human subjects will be employed in an experiment lasting for 20 hours spanning over 2 months where they will either receive real-time strategy-based videogame training or crystallized intelligence training. In addition, long-term retention data will be obtained after 6 month post-training to investigate any long-term benefits.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALReal-time strategy-based videogame training
Rise of Nation is a complex strategy-based video game, in which individualized-adaptive feedbacks are constantly given to players based on their performance.
BEHAVIORALSemantic Knowledge training
Packages of various cross-word puzzles include word search, word ladder, and word wheel.
Sponsors
The University of Texas at Dallas
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
50 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Right-handed * over 50 Years of Age * native or fluent English speaker * not Color-blind * Magnetic Resonance Imaging eligible * Mini Mental Status Examination Score \>24
Exclusion criteria
* Left-handed or ambidextrous * younger than 50 * cannot distinguish colors during color blindness test * claustrophobia * metal artifact in body * over 300 lb * pacemaker * MMSE score lower than 24 * history of stroke * history of substance or alcohol abuse * currently taking anti-psychotic or anti-depression medication
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate change in brain activations during executive functions: working memory updating | 9-11 weeks | Change in fMRI brain activations from baseline to post-training. |
| Immediate change in the composite score of executive functions | 9-11 weeks | Change in the composite score of executive functions, and its subcomponents, from baseline to post-training. Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
| Immediate change in the composite score of episodic memory | 9-11 weeks | Change in the composite score of episodic memory from baseline to post-training.Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
| Immediate change in brain activations during executive functions: multi-tasking | 9-11 weeks | Change in fMRI brain activations from baseline to post-training. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate change in the composite score of working memory capacity | 9-11 weeks | Change in the composite score of working memory capacity from baseline to post-training.Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
| Immediate change in the fluid reasoning measure | 9-11 weeks | Change in the fluid reasoning measure (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices, a paper and pencil test) from baseline to post-training. Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
| immediate change in the composite score of cognition | 9-11 weeks | Change in composite score of cognition from baseline to long-term retention. Composite score for overall cognition is summed across composite scores for executive function, processing speed, processing speed, working memory capacity and fluid reasoning. Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate change in the processing speed construct | 9-11 weeks | Change in the processing speed construct from baseline to post-training. Higher change in score represents better outcome. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed