Cognitive Regulation Training and Exercise
Condition: Patient Compliance
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to compare CORTEX (Cognitive Regulation Training and Exercise),
      a multi-faceted, general and exercise-specific cognitive training program plus a 4-month
      exercise program, to an attention-control condition involving health and wellness
      informational lectures plus videos. The proposed exercise program will involve both aerobic
      and resistive exercises. The investigators hypothesize that pre-intervention cognitive
      training will enhance self-regulation and self-efficacy and in turn, increase exercise
      adherence. The investigators also expect more positive improvements in cognitive and
      psychosocial function among participants in the CORTEX condition as compared to the Control
      condition immediately following the cognitive booster training, and across time.
    

Detailed description: 
      Primary Aim 1: To determine the efficacy of pre-intervention cognitive training for improving
      exercise adherence and engagement. We hypothesize that class participation rates, physical
      activity counts, and self-reported exercise participation levels will be higher at 4 months
      for participants in the CORTEX condition relative to the Control condition. We also predict
      that pre-intervention training will demonstrate high feasibility/acceptability, as indicated
      by a thorough process evaluation.

      Primary Aim 2: To determine if integrated general and exercise-specific cognitive training
      improves facets of executive function and exercise-related efficacy judgments. We hypothesize
      that participants in the CORTEX condition will show faster reaction times and greater
      accuracy for trained and untrained-domain-relevant tasks, including dual task performance,
      reasoning, and thought-stopping at post-booster testing and 4-month follow-up. Furthermore,
      we hypothesize that CORTEX participants will show significantly higher levels of exercise
      efficacy judgments, and exhibit greater automaticity (faster reaction times) in making those
      judgments, at post-booster testing, 1 month and 4-month follow-up.

      Secondary Aim 1: We will use longitudinal mediation analyses to examine mechanisms of change
      brought about by the cognitive training effects on exercise adherence and engagement. We
      hypothesize that changes in efficacy and use of self-regulatory strategies will mediate
      cognitive training effects on exercise adherence over 4-months.
    

Intervention name(s): CORTEX
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 2-hour sessions for a period of four weeks prior to the initial exercise program start. One hour will be devoted to computerized training (stationary dual-task & cognitive control training, self-priming, certainty training) whereas the other hour will be devoted to exergaming involving non-stationary, dual-task training.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: adherence; cognition; exercise; aging