Enhancing Cognitive Control Abilities Using Mobile Technology in a Senior Living Community

NCT ID: NCT04905849

Last Updated: 2025-07-03

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 12 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-05-01
• Study Completion Date: 2022-12-01

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to test the feasibility of launching a personalized digital health assessment and remediation program for the older adults in senior living communities based upon an initial characterization of these abilities. Evidence of feasibility here using these unique methodological approaches would provide empirical evidence supporting the basis for a larger-scale implementation of such digital health technologies into less controlled senior settings.

Conditions

Aging; Cognitive Change

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

There are three modules within the game, each training a different aspect of cognitive control (attention, goal management, working memory): a visual search task for attention abilities, a spatial span task for working memory, and a task switching paradigm for goal management abilities. There are also 3 different levels of difficulty associated with each module; advancing to the next level delivers an advanced challenge that enhances the difficulty in performing the given cognitive task. Participants advance to the next level of difficulty following 6 training sessions occurring over 2 weeks, with the total training experience being 6 weeks of training (3 days/week), with each training session lasting 36 minutes (not including self-paced breaks).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Module 1: Attention=> This module demands an active scan of the screen in search for a target, much like traditional visual search tasks. Participants quickly identify the direction that a probe target is facing (up, down, left, right), and are aided by the presence of directional cue indicating where the location of the target will appear.

Module 2: Goal Management=> Requires participants to rapidly switch their focus based on distinct rules. Participants are presented with exemplar objects along with a target, and are asked to indicate which exemplar presented is most like the target.

Module 3: Working Memory=> Engages spatial working memory resources similar to the Corsi block task. Participants memorize the location of objects on screen followed by a 5-7 second delay period, with a correct response leading to a greater number of potential targets to be memorized on the next trial (and vice versa).

Active Control Group

An active control application will be used for this arm. The total training experience here will also be for 6 weeks (3 days/week), with each training session lasting \~30 minutes (not including self-paced breaks). Here an app that is matched in terms of expectancy of benefits compared to our training groups will be determined by questioning 100 naïve individuals to predict their expected improvement on each cognitive domain across a multitude of possible applications.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Active Control App

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The app used here is undergoing expectancy-matching at the present time, will be updated with the final app characteristics when completed out of a list of several possibilities

Interventions

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

Module 1: Attention=> This module demands an active scan of the screen in search for a target, much like traditional visual search tasks. Participants quickly identify the direction that a probe target is facing (up, down, left, right), and are aided by the presence of directional cue indicating where the location of the target will appear.

Module 2: Goal Management=> Requires participants to rapidly switch their focus based on distinct rules. Participants are presented with exemplar objects along with a target, and are asked to indicate which exemplar presented is most like the target.

Module 3: Working Memory=> Engages spatial working memory resources similar to the Corsi block task. Participants memorize the location of objects on screen followed by a 5-7 second delay period, with a correct response leading to a greater number of potential targets to be memorized on the next trial (and vice versa).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Active Control App

The app used here is undergoing expectancy-matching at the present time, will be updated with the final app characteristics when completed out of a list of several possibilities

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Must be living at a Senior Living Community
• have own iPad and/or smartphone,
• native-English speaker.

Participation across a spectrum of cognitive abilities is desired for this study, specifically for older adults in a community setting.

Exclusion Criteria

• Do not have any physical or cognitive limitations that would clearly prevent them from utilizing these applications as intended

• Minimum Eligible Age: 50 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Joaquin Anguera, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UC San Francisco

Locations

UC San Francisco

San Francisco, California, United States

Countries

United States

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

R21AG058896

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

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R21AG058896

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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