Activities for Cognitive Enhancement of Seniors

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Cognitive aging and cognitive decline are important public health concerns in an aging US population. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trail among healthy older adults to assess effects of several innovative activities on remediation of age-related cognitive decline.

Detailed Description
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ACE-Seniors is designed as a single-site trial of four randomly assigned interventions, Tai Chi exercise, autobiographical writing, both Tai Chi and autobiography (dual intervention), and general health education. Participants are relatively healthy adults aged 70 years or older, who are not regular practitioners of Tai Chi or regular writers. They are without medical or neurological disorders that would substantially limit the ability to participate in study interventions, without dementia or mild cognitive impairment, relatively sedentary, able to walk unassisted, and able to score 4 or better on the Short Physical Performance Battery. Interventions are administered over a 6 month period of time, with similar exposure times among the four groups. The prespecified primary endpoint is derived from a composite neuropsychological measure, based on three tests of executive function and three tests of episodic memory. The planned sample size is 96 (24 per group). Intention-to-treat analysis will include all eligible participants who complete baseline assessments.

Official Title
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Tai Chi and Guided Autobiography for Remediation of Age-related Cognitive Decline

Conditions
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Aging

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Tai Chi
* Behavioral: Guided autobiography
* Behavioral: Qigong
* Behavioral: Successful aging
* Behavioral: Combination
* Behavioral: Comparison


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 70 years of age or older. No other household member already enrolled. In reasonably good health: no serious cognitive problem; free of any condition that would limit your ability to participate in Tai Chi classes (a moderate intensity exercise), in Qigong exercises, in a writing program, or in a seminar series. Not presently engaged in a regular exercise program; not presently engaged in Tai Chi Qigong or another form of Eastern exercise; and not a regular writer. Not now engaged in research to enhance cognitive skills. Willing to travel to Stanford for ACE-Seniors program classes. Planning to be in the area during most of the coming year; Willing to be assigned randomly (by chance) to one of the ACE-Senior activities. Exclusion Criteria: Failure to meet inclusion criteria.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Tai Chi<br>Tai Chi exercises | Behavioral: Tai Chi<br>* Tai Chi classes and exercises<br>|
| Experimental: Guided autobiography<br>Autobiographical writing during class sessions and at home | Behavioral: Guided autobiography<br>* Autobiographical writing in class and at home<br>|
| Experimental: Qigong<br>Qigong exercises (exploratory, not part of the original protocol, added to gain experience with this intervention) | Behavioral: Qigong<br>* Qigong classes and exercises (exploratory)<br>|
| Active Comparator: Successful aging<br>Seminars on the theme of successful aging | Behavioral: Successful aging<br>* Seminar series on the theme of successful aging<br>|
| Experimental: Combination<br>Combination of Tai Chi exercises and autobiographical writing | Behavioral: Combination<br>* Combination of Tai Chi exercises and autobiographical writing<br>|
| Placebo Comparator: Comparison<br>No assigned experimental activity (exploratory, not part of the original protocol, added to gain experience with a placebo comparator) | Behavioral: Comparison<br>* No assigned behavioral activity (exploratory)<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cognitive (executive function and episodic memory) |  | 6 and 12 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Other cognitive measures |  | 6 and 12 months | 
| Physical performance and other non-cognitive measures |  | 6 and 12 months | 
| Adherence and retention |  | 6 and 12 months |