Evaluation of a Neuropsychological Tool to Assess Temporal Processing Abilities in Alzheimer's Disease

NCT ID: NCT07341009

Last Updated: 2026-01-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Total Enrollment: 40 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-12-30
• Study Completion Date: 2027-11-01

Brief Summary

Perceiving and representing the passage of time allows us to temporally organize perceptions and memories for the coordination of actions, planning, and the mobilization of cognitive processes toward a goal. This innovative project aims to clarify the profile of time impairment associated with normal aging and the progression of age-related pathologies. This project proposes to develop a new neuropsychological tool for quantifying and preventing changes in the relationship to time associated with Alzheimer's disease. Four aspects of time are distinguished, which are measured separately and distributed along a continuum between perception and memory: (a) perception of simultaneity and order; (b) processing of durations; (c) subjective sense of the passage of time; and (d) mental time travel. Crucially, many neurological and psychiatric disorders are associated with impairment in one or more aspects of time. However, time remains largely unexplored in clinical practice. Patients with Alzheimer's disease will complete the CHRONOS battery. This battery allows for a rapid assessment (approximately ten minutes) of the four aspects of time. This new battery will enable the identification of behavioral markers aimed at improving prognosis and prevention regarding individual cognitive trajectories of aging. The relationship to time is closely linked to each person's personal experience. This project will help to put into words difficulties that are not always expressed in terms of time. Thus, considering these pathologies from the perspective of time aims to better understand and prevent their difficulties and to guide the identification of new markers and new avenues for remediation.

Conditions

Alzheimer's Disease (AD); Time Perception

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: CASE_CONTROL
• Study Time Perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL

Study Groups

Alzheimer's patients

Chronos battery

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Patients will perform the battery during a neuropsychological assessment

Interventions

Chronos battery

Patients will perform the battery during a neuropsychological assessment

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• No objection from the participant or their legal representative, if applicable, prior to or during the assessment
• Deficit in at least two cognitive functions, including episodic memory.

Exclusion Criteria

• History of head trauma with loss of consciousness lasting more than 1 hour
• Presence of clinically significant major psychiatric disorders (according to DSM-IV-TR criteria)
• Use of medications likely to alter cognitive and/or brain function (decision by the principal investigator)

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University Hospital, Caen

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

Caen Hospital, neurology Unit

Caen, , France

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

France

Central Contacts

Marianne Hebert

Role: CONTACT

hebert-maria@chu-caen.fr

+33231065728

Facility Contacts

Marianne Hebert

Role: primary

hebert-maria@chu-caen.fr

+332 31 065728

Other Identifiers

25-0136

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id