Gaming for Autism to Mold Executive Skills Project
Condition: Autism Spectrum Disorders
MeSH terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of the project is to better understand executive control-how children manage complex
      or conflicting information in the service of a goal. This skill has been linked to social and
      academic functioning in typically developing children. Executive control is often reduced in
      children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but it has not been a focus of treatment. This
      project will have the goal of determining whether computer-training tasks developed to
      enhance the executive control skills of preschoolers and school-aged children without autism
      are appropriate for children with ASD. The investigators do not yet know if this training is
      beneficial for children with ASD. In addition, because executive control has been found to
      relate to social knowledge and problem solving, the investigators will collect information
      with this type of task to measure possible effects of training.
    

Detailed description: 
      Participation will include two phone calls to determine if the study is a good fit and
      collect some preliminary information, five visits to Boston Children's Hospital (3 before
      training and 2 about 6-8 weeks later), caregiver questionnaires, and an optional teacher
      questionnaire packet. The visits will include activities designed to assess verbal and
      nonverbal thinking ability; social skills and general interests; and specific tasks related
      to cognitive and social problem solving. In addition, EEG measurement of brain function will
      be made. EEG is a non-invasive recording of brain activity. Children will be randomly
      assigned (i.e., like flipping a coin) to receive training or to a non-training group. The
      training group will complete tasks designed to improve executive control presented over the
      course of 5-10 1-hour sessions. All tasks are game-like and are presented on a computer with
      child friendly graphics. A staff member will work with each child as he/she completes the
      training activities. Children assigned to the non-training group will be invited to
      participate in training at the end of the study if it is shown to improve executive control.
    

Intervention name(s): Computerized executive control training
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Children will play computerized training games designed to improve executive control skills. Each training activity is structured to achieve a particular type of training related to executive control and/or attention shifting.
Sessions last for 1 hour each and the intensity of intervention ranges from 5-10 hours. Children will receive training until all levels of all tasks have been passed or 10 hours, whichever happens first. All training exercises have a number of levels, and children progress to the next level by meeting specific criteria for accuracy and/or speed.
A trainer will be present during all sessions to help children comply with the training demands and to teach skills involved in completing challenging tasks.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Executive Function; Theory of Mind; Individual Differences; Social Skills; Executive Control