Clinical trial NCT04000984: Beneficial Effects of Mindfulness-based Training on Neuropsychological Outcomes in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Official title: Investigating the Beneficial Effects of Mindfulness-based Training on Neuropsychological Outcomes in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment
Keywords: Mindfulness
Cognitive Rehabilitation
Lead sponsor: Singapore General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
First posted: 2019-06-27
Enrollment: 81
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 45
Maximum age (years): 75
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the treatment intervention, Mindfulness-Based Intervention, compared against an active control, the Cognitive Rehabilitation Training in parallel and both groups will also be compared against a passive control group, the Treatment as Usual, where no intervention takes place.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study evaluates the effects of Mindfulness-based Interventions (MBI) on the neuropsychological profile of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It will also investigate changes in fMRI activity, such as resting-state functional connectivity networks and changes in activity in attention networks in task-related fMRI using graph theory analysis after Mindfulness-based Interventions. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either the Mindfulness-Based Intervention, Cognitive Rehabilitation Training or Treatment as Usual as the passive control group comparison.

Detailed description: As the population of Singapore ages rapidly, cognitive decline associated with both normal aging and disease is becoming a frequently encountered health challenge. In our proposed study, we will investigate the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), which have shown significant promise in halting and even reversing age-related cognitive impairment. MBI enhances the quality and frequency of mindfulness, defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's attention and awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. In this study, we will administer a standardized MBI program or Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy to a group of 60 patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition marked by deficits in language, memory and attention that often leads to dementia; an additional 30 patients will be assigned to the control group. There will be 3 runs with 30 persons per run; each group will have 10 randomly assigned participants. By comparing the 3 groups across the 3 runs, we seek to test the following hypotheses: 1) MBI will result in significantly greater improvements in neuropsychological testing outcomes across multiple cognitive domains, including attention, memory, language and processing speed, 2) MBI will strengthen cortical connectivity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and 3) MBI will lead to changes in fMRI activation on a test of facets of attention. Neuropsychological testing will take place in SGH, while fMRI and EEG scanning will take place in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke-NUS. Both the MBI and CRT will be facilitated by trained personnel. Our proposed experiment comprises one of the most comprehensive interrogations of the effects of MBT on patients to date, and if successful, could rapidly translate into a program with both clinical and economic impact.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Fluent in English
2. Mild Cognitive Impairment: Fulfill Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version five (DSM-V) diagnostic criteria for Minor Neurocognitive Disorder
3. MMSE score = 20-30
4. Clinical Dementia Rating Score (CDR) = 0.5
5. Age: ≤75 years

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Presence of major neurological conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson's Disease and or brain injury
2. Presence of major psychiatric conditions such as major depression or schizophrenia
3. Unsuitability for fMRI scanning (e.g. pacemakers, metallic implants, claustrophobia)
4. Unable to give or no consent available
5. Left-handed participants may take part in the study but will not undergo fMRI scanning

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Attention
timeFrame: 10 minutes
measure: Change in Immediate Memory
timeFrame: 10 minutes
measure: Change in Delayed Memory
timeFrame: 30 minutes
measure: Change in Processing Speed: Colour Trails 1 and 2
timeFrame: 10 minutes
measure: Chang in Mindfulness Awareness and Attention Scores
timeFrame: An average of 3 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Subjective Quality of Life: Short-Form 36
timeFrame: An average of 3 months
measure: Change in Subjective measures of Sleep quality: Insomnia Severity Index
timeFrame: Two weeks
measure: Change in Subjective measures of Sleep quality: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Score
timeFrame: One month
measure: Imaging measures (structural): change in orbitofrontal cortex volume
timeFrame: 6 minutes
measure: Change in functional imaging measures: Resting state
timeFrame: 10 minutes
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Singapore General Hospital
Study officials:
affiliation: Singapore General Hospital
name: Kinjal Doshi, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
name: Julian Lim, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Brier MR, Thomas JB, Fagan AM, Hassenstab J, Holtzman DM, Benzinger TL, Morris JC, Ances BM. Functional connectivity and graph theory in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Aging. 2014 Apr;35(4):757-68. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2013.10.081. Epub 2013 Oct 18.
citation: Bullmore E, Sporns O. Complex brain networks: graph theoretical analysis of structural and functional systems. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Mar;10(3):186-98. doi: 10.1038/nrn2575. Epub 2009 Feb 4.
citation: Dai Z, He Y. Disrupted structural and functional brain connectomes in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Neurosci Bull. 2014 Apr;30(2):217-32. doi: 10.1007/s12264-013-1421-0. Epub 2014 Apr 15.
citation: Dinges DF, Pack F, Williams K, Gillen KA, Powell JW, Ott GE, Aptowicz C, Pack AI. Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4-5 hours per night. Sleep. 1997 Apr;20(4):267-77.
citation: Fox MD, Raichle ME. Spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity observed with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2007 Sep;8(9):700-11. doi: 10.1038/nrn2201.
citation: Fox MD, Snyder AZ, Vincent JL, Raichle ME. Intrinsic fluctuations within cortical systems account for intertrial variability in human behavior. Neuron. 2007 Oct 4;56(1):171-84. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.08.023.
citation: Gard T, Holzel BK, Lazar SW. The potential effects of meditation on age-related cognitive decline: a systematic review. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014 Jan;1307:89-103. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12348.
citation: Gauthier S, Reisberg B, Zaudig M, Petersen RC, Ritchie K, Broich K, Belleville S, Brodaty H, Bennett D, Chertkow H, Cummings JL, de Leon M, Feldman H, Ganguli M, Hampel H, Scheltens P, Tierney MC, Whitehouse P, Winblad B; International Psychogeriatric Association Expert Conference on mild cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment. Lancet. 2006 Apr 15;367(9518):1262-70. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68542-5.
citation: He X, Qin W, Liu Y, Zhang X, Duan Y, Song J, Li K, Jiang T, Yu C. Abnormal salience network in normal aging and in amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Hum Brain Mapp. 2014 Jul;35(7):3446-64. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22414. Epub 2013 Nov 12.
citation: Huckans M, Hutson L, Twamley E, Jak A, Kaye J, Storzbach D. Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation therapies for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults: working toward a theoretical model and evidence-based interventions. Neuropsychol Rev. 2013 Mar;23(1):63-80. doi: 10.1007/s11065-013-9230-9. Epub 2013 Mar 8.
citation: Kilpatrick LA, Suyenobu BY, Smith SR, Bueller JA, Goodman T, Creswell JD, Tillisch K, Mayer EA, Naliboff BD. Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training on intrinsic brain connectivity. Neuroimage. 2011 May 1;56(1):290-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.02.034. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
citation: Koepsell TD, Monsell SE. Reversion from mild cognitive impairment to normal or near-normal cognition: risk factors and prognosis. Neurology. 2012 Oct 9;79(15):1591-8. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31826e26b7. Epub 2012 Sep 26.
citation: Lim J, Dinges DF. Sleep deprivation and vigilant attention. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1129:305-22. doi: 10.1196/annals.1417.002.
citation: Manly JJ, Tang MX, Schupf N, Stern Y, Vonsattel JP, Mayeux R. Frequency and course of mild cognitive impairment in a multiethnic community. Ann Neurol. 2008 Apr;63(4):494-506. doi: 10.1002/ana.21326.
citation: Mcbee, L. (2008) Mindfulness-based elder care. New York: Springer.
citation: Sun Y, Lim J, Kwok K, Bezerianos A. Functional cortical connectivity analysis of mental fatigue unmasks hemispheric asymmetry and changes in small-world networks. Brain Cogn. 2014 Mar;85:220-30. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.12.011. Epub 2014 Jan 21.
citation: Tang YY, Ma Y, Fan Y, Feng H, Wang J, Feng S, Lu Q, Hu B, Lin Y, Li J, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Zhou L, Fan M. Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jun 2;106(22):8865-70. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0904031106. Epub 2009 May 18.
citation: Tschanz JT, Welsh-Bohmer KA, Lyketsos CG, Corcoran C, Green RC, Hayden K, Norton MC, Zandi PP, Toone L, West NA, Breitner JC; Cache County Investigators. Conversion to dementia from mild cognitive disorder: the Cache County Study. Neurology. 2006 Jul 25;67(2):229-34. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000224748.48011.84.