Clinical trial NCT03661190: Online Grammatical Reasoning Training for Older Adults
Official title: Impact of Short-term Intensive Online Grammatical Reasoning Training on Cognition and Function in Adults Over 50: An Online Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy Aging
Lead sponsor: University of Exeter
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
name: King's College London
name: Wesnes Cognition Ltd
First posted: 2018-09-07
Enrollment: 7240
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Maximum age (years): 100
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The START study will investigate the impact of playing a Grammatical Reasoning brain training task on overall brain function (cognition) and day-to-day function in people over 50.

The study builds on existing work that has shown very promising results with brain training approaches in older adults. There is good evidence that playing brain training games leads to improvements in brain functions including memory and reasoning. There is also a suggestion that regular involvement in brain training games might help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia later in life. It appears that reasoning, or problem-solving, is particularly important as it is one of the first abilities to decline with age. This study will use this evidence to target reasoning in a specific brain training task. It will also explore the potential role of genetic factors in how people perform in the task.

The study will compare the impact of a Grammatical Reasoning Task (START) with a control task consisting of simple picture-matching. Over 7000 participants will be randomly allocated to either START or the control and will be asked to play the task as often as they wish for a period of six weeks. Both tasks will be delivered entirely online so people will access the study from home on their computers. This will be achieved through our dedicated online research platform, PROTECT, which hosts a cohort of over 20,000 older adults who have provided DNA samples as part of a longitudinal study.

This study will measure the impact of the training on cognition and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Assessments will be completed online at baseline, two/six weeks and six months. Overall, this study aims to generate exciting new data about how brain training could be included in guidance on healthy ageing.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults over 50
* Access to a computer with a keyboard and the internet
* Participant registered on the PROTECT study

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of dementia

Primary outcomes:
measure: A composite measure of cognitive function
timeFrame: Participants will be directed to complete these measures at baseline, two/ six weeks and six months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Executive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Executive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Cognitive function
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Verbal Learning
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)
timeFrame: Baseline, two weeks, six weeks and 6 months
measure: Use of cognitive training
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Exeter
country: United Kingdom
facility: University of Exeter Medical School
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Exeter Medical School
name: Anne Corbett, BSc MRes PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: