Mild dementia/Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) Mild cognitive impairment
Conditions
Interventions
The WMT used in the present study is based on the same tasks used in the study
of Houben, Wiers and Jansen (2011). Their WMT was based on the ideas, tasks and
studies of Klingberg and associates (e.
Sponsors
Universiteit Maastricht
Eligibility
Age
18 Years to 99 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: MCI: diagnosed according to the criteria of the DSM IV-R (American Psychiatric Association, 2000);Age over 18 years;A minimum of 4 years of formal schooling and no history of mental retardation;Native Dutch speaker;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).;Participants must have access (preferable at their own home) to a computer with an internet connection. ;Participants must have some experience with computers (preferable with Windows and Internet Explorer).;A partner/caregiver who is willing to help/assist the participant with the daily computerized training.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: History of acquired brain injury (e.g. cerebral contusion, cerebrovascular accident)
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 Accomplishment of the WMT, excluded subjects and dropouts The number of participants that accomplish the whole WMT (25 days), the number of excluded subjects (e.g. by the researchers) and the number of dropouts will be recorded. The researchers will try to contact withdrawn subjects, in order to clarify, whether his or her reasons were related to experimental set up. Subjects are not obligated to give the reason why he or she has stopped with the experiment. These outcome measurements can give us crucial information about the applied intervention and the investigated population | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 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 Likert-type scale, ranging from 0 (*no problem at all*) to 4 (*very severe problem in everyday life*). Examples of items are: **Do you find it difficult to remember the name of a person who has just been introduced to you?** and Do you feel that fatigue excessively reduces your concentration?**. This questionnaire is added in the present study to monitor the everyday WM problems of our participants. Executive functioning (non-equal task) A computerized v | — |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed