Dementia refers to an acquired and persistent syndrome of intellectual impairment. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-R (DSM
Conditions
Interventions
WMT is an intervention that is used to strengthen executive functions (Klingberg, 2010). It is found that WMT is highly relevant for reducing clinical symptoms and to improve WM capacity and other cog
Borella et al., 2010
Klingberg et al., 2005
Houben, Wiers & Jansen, 2011).
Participants will be trained during the WMT on three kinds of WM tests: the visuospatial WM span task, the backwards digit span task, and the letter span task (based o
2. Backward digit span: During this task, a sequence of numbers will be presented on the computer screen. Participants have to reproduce this sequence in reversed order, using either the computer mous
3. Letter span task: During this task, a sequence of letters will be presented on the computer screen in a circle. One of the positions in this circle is to be indicated and participants have to repro
Sponsors
Maastricht University
MUMC
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. MCI: Diagnosed according to the criteria of the DSM IV-R (American Psychiatric Association, 2000); 2. Age over 18 years; 3. A minimum of 4 years of formal schooling and no history of mental retardation; 4. Native Dutch speaker; 5. Mental competency to give informed consent. Mental competency as defined by the Dutch law (WGBO: Wet of Geneeskundige Behandel Overeenkomst) is determined by the medical specialist (psychiatrist, neurologist); 6. Participants must have access (preferable at their own home) to a computer with an internet connection; 7. Participants must have some experience with computers (preferable with Windows and Internet Explorer); 8. A partner/caregiver who is willing to help/assist the participant with the daily computerized training.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. History of acquired brain injury (e.g. cerebral contusion, cerebrovascular accident); 2. Participants who show signs of poor compliance (e.g. not completing a session in time and session loss) and/or poor response on the questionnaires will be excluded from the experiment by the researchers.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Feasibility: Feasibility will be evaluated on the basis of (a) age, (b) patient’s abilities/capacity (daily investment, duration and difficulty level of the tasks and questionnaires), and (c) weakly (or daily) telephonic conservations between the researchers and the patient or his/her partner/caregiver. In addition, the (possible) lack of computer skills and the necessity of an involved partner/caregiver are also important factors to consider in regard to the feasibility. WM capacity: WM capacity will be measured with using the same tasks that will be used during the WMT. However, the assessment versions of the three tasks will end when participants are unable to reproduce a sequence of two consecutive trials. The outcome measure for each task will be the length of the longest sequences that participants correctly reproduce on two consecutive trials. See section 3 for detailed information about the WM tasks. WM (equal, but not trained task): The Backward letter span will be used to function as a control WM task. This means that this task is equal to the other WM tasks, but that it not will be trained. During this backward letter spa task, a sequence of letters will be presented on the computer screen. Participants have to reproduce this sequence in reversed order, using either the computer mouse or the letter keys on the keyboard. This task is added to the present study to see whether the participants show an improved WM performance on only the trained WM tasks or on all WM tasks (including the not trained task). By this way, we can chart the (generalization) effect of WMT. Consequences of WM deficits in everyday life: The Working Memory Questionnaire (WMQ) is a self-administered scale, addressing three dimensions of WM: short-term storage, attention, and executive control. The WMQ assess the consequences of WM deficits in everyday life (Vallat-Azouvi, Pradat-Diehl & Azvouvi, 2012). The WMQ consist of 30 items and each question will be rated on a five-point | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Sense of control: Mastery, or “the feeling as the extent to which a person perceives himself or herself to be in control of events and ongoing situations” is considered as a psychosocial resource when coping with stressful life events. A high sense of mastery is expected to reduce psychological distress and increase well being. The Mastery-questionnaire (Pearlin, 1978) is used to measure this level of control that people experience. The Mastery scale consist of seven items scored on a 5-point scale from ‘’totally agree’’ (1) to ‘’totally disagree’’ (5). Examples of items are: ‘’ Some of my problems I can't seem to solve at all’’ and ‘’ Sometimes I feel like a play ball of life’’. This questionnaire is included to the present study to see whether WM effects are independent of control. One interesting question is for example whether participants with the lowest improvement in WM performance also have a low level of control. Self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain goals. The Dutch General Self-efficacy Scale (GSE) consists of 10 statements on a 4-point scale from ‘’totally incorrect’’ (1) to ‘’totally correct’’. The GSE is designed to assess optimistic self-beliefs to cope with a variety of difficult demands in life (Teeuw, Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1994). An example of an item is: ‘’Whatever happens, I will manage’’. This questionnaire is included in the present study to monitor the self-beliefs and goals of our participants at pre-test, post-test and follow-up. Psychological states: The Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90) will be used as a screening measure of general psychiatric symptomatology (Buckelew et al. 1988). Patients are asked to rate the severity of their experiences with each symptom over the past week on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). Examples of items (or symptoms) are: ‘’Headache’’ and ‘’Thinking about death or dying’’. This questionnaire | — |
Contacts
Public ContactKay Deckers
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience Maastricht University
Outcome results
None listed