Rhythm Experience and Africana Culture Trial

NCT ID: NCT03771716

Last Updated: 2025-08-13

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 151 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-05-21
• Study Completion Date: 2024-08-16

Brief Summary

REACT is a randomized intervention to examine the benefits of African Dance as a method to increase physical activity behaviors in older adults. In this 6- month intervention, older African Americans will be randomly assigned to either an African Dance or an Africana Culture class. Both before and at the completion of the intervention, the investigators will collect a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and MRI scans of brain health and function to better study how physical activity influences neurocognitive health in African Americans.

Detailed Description

Aim 1: Examine whether the African Dance intervention improves cognitive performance compared to an educational control group. H1: The dance group will show cognitive improvements in a domain-specific fashion such that executive and memory functions will be enhanced more than other cognitive domains; Aim 2. Examine whether African Dance influences brain morphology, task-evoked neural responses, cerebral blood flow, and resting state connectivity. H1: It is predicted that African Dance will increase volume, white matter integrity, perfusion, and functional activation/connectivity in a regionally-specific fashion such that prefrontal and hippocampal areas will be more sensitive to the intervention than other brain regions. Aim 3. Explore potential physiological and socio-emotional mechanisms of the dance intervention. The investigators will collect measures of physical and psychosocial health such as waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid levels, mood, anxiety, depression, and loneliness and examine whether intervention-related changes to these measures mediate improvements in cognitive performance.

Conditions

Cognitive Performance; Brain Structure

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

African Dance

This is the experimental group. Dance classes will be held 3 times per week for 1 hour. Participants will learn traditional Africana dance moves and sequences.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

African Dance

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Basic principles and guidelines for exercise programming will be followed including adequate warm-up and cool-down, progressive and gradual increments in duration, and instruction regarding avoidance of physical activity (PA) related injury. The African dance group will receive moderate intensity dance 1 hour per day, twice per week, for 6 months. The prescribed intensity will begin at light to moderate and progress to a moderate to high intensity level. Frequent assessment of heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion will ensure appropriate levels of intensity during each dance session. Levels of exertion during the dance will be prescribed and monitored based on baseline assessments of heart rate and cardiorespiratory fitness.

African Cultural Immersion

This is the active control group. Participants will participate in a variety of educational activities related to African Culture, including traditional cooking, lectures, crafts, music and films. They will meet 3 times per week for the same duration as the Dance group. However, they will not participate in aerobic activity during the classes, and most activities will be conducted in a seated position.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

African Cultural Immersion

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The Culture group will participate in activities, including cooking, art and games, music, traditional crafts, and lectures and discussions about other aspects of Africana culture and customs. Topics will vary from session to session to maintain interest and engagement. The sessions will be held in a small group format and will be lead my personnel with training in each topic. Participants will meet 1 hour per day, 3 times per week, for 6 months.

Interventions

African Dance

Basic principles and guidelines for exercise programming will be followed including adequate warm-up and cool-down, progressive and gradual increments in duration, and instruction regarding avoidance of physical activity (PA) related injury. The African dance group will receive moderate intensity dance 1 hour per day, twice per week, for 6 months. The prescribed intensity will begin at light to moderate and progress to a moderate to high intensity level. Frequent assessment of heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion will ensure appropriate levels of intensity during each dance session. Levels of exertion during the dance will be prescribed and monitored based on baseline assessments of heart rate and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

African Cultural Immersion

The Culture group will participate in activities, including cooking, art and games, music, traditional crafts, and lectures and discussions about other aspects of Africana culture and customs. Topics will vary from session to session to maintain interest and engagement. The sessions will be held in a small group format and will be lead my personnel with training in each topic. Participants will meet 1 hour per day, 3 times per week, for 6 months.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Dance Group; Culture Group

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• self identifies race as African American
• between 60 and 80 years of age
• ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
• no history of falls or balance problems
• able to speak and read English
• available during the times classes are offered and able to make at least 80% of classes (e.g., no long-term travel plans)
• reliable means of transportation
• scores above the range on the Brief Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) indicative of moderate to severe cognitive impairment (scores 21 or above)
• no diagnosis of a neurological disease or psychiatric conditions
• eligible to undergo MRI (not claustrophobic and no metal or history of injury involving metal).
• Fully vaccinated for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Exclusion Criteria

• self identifies race as other than African American
• not between 60 and 80 years of age
• not ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
• history of falls or balance problems
• unable to speak and read English
• unavailable during the times classes are offered or unable to make at least 80% of classes (e.g., indicates long-term travel plans during intervention period)
• no reliable means of transportation
• scores in range on the TICS indicative of moderate to severe cognitive impairment (scores 21 or below)
• has a diagnosis of a neurological disease or psychiatric condition
• ineligible to undergo MRI (claustrophobic and/or metal in body or history of injury involving metal).

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 80 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Pittsburgh

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kirk Erickson, PhD

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Kirk I Erickson, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Pittsburgh

Locations

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

1R01AG060741-01

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

STUDY19020263

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id