Clinical trial NCT06724887: Brain Health on College Campuses
Official title: Brain Health on College Campuses
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Health Behavior
Life Style, Healthy
Lead sponsor: The University of Texas at Dallas
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Meadows Foundation
name: Hoglund Foundation
First posted: 2024-12-09
Enrollment: 1000
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 110
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Center for BrainHealth is beginning a one-year pilot with local college campuses investigating the impact of (i) brain health assessment and training tools delivered through the online BrainHealth Platform and (ii) in-person educational brain health workshops delivered to college students and faculty/staff, with the overarching goal to better understand how to promote brain-healthier campuses (i.e., reflecting generally positive function across cognitive, social, emotional, and lifestyle domains). This initial study is intended to be a one-year pilot, with findings informing feasibility and efficacy as well as future, more extended and expanded study informing translation to other colleges/universities.

Detailed description: ONLINE Procedures

Assessments (3 times over 9 months): BrainHealth Index - An online battery of cognitive measures and questionnaires. Periodic surveys to assess new research questions (as IRB approved) and to assess participant experience

Training, habits, resources (available over 9 months): Micro-learning video modules that include Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Tactics (SMART) and other trainings such as stress management, sleep, and lifestyle. The habit tool supports accountability and consistency of building new and personalized habits. Curated resources (articles, podcasts, videos) around the topic of brain health are also available.

Coaching Periodic access to group and one-on-one brain-health related virtual coaching sessions.

Link wearable data Participants have the option to link their wearable data with their data collected through the BrainHealth Platform

IN-PERSON Procedures

The investigators will offer in-person and/or virtual/hybrid educational sessions on a variety of high-interest topics such as stress management, sleep, resilience, and mental well-being, with an emphasis on how practicing and implementing brain healthy strategies can impact everyday life. For faculty/staff, the investigators will also offer interactive workshops on how to create a brain healthy environment and classroom, including ways to implement and provide brain-healthy strategies and resources in their everyday operations involving students (e.g., ways to enhance mental energy and focus in the classroom, brain-based approaches to promoting growth mindset and confidence, etc.).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Minimum age of 18
* Either enrolled as a student and/or employed as staff/faculty at UTD or Dallas College
* Internet and device access
* Must be able to hear and read over the computer
* Fluent English speaker

Exclusion Criteria:

* Currently or previously enrolled in The BrainHealth Project (NCT04869111)
* Diagnosed neurodegenerative disease
* History of stroke, concussion, or brain injury that currently hinders participant from functioning at their prior level
* Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and not functioning independently

Primary outcomes:
measure: BrainHealth Index (BHI)
timeFrame: Baseline (Month 0), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Level of Real-Life Responsibilities Survey
timeFrame: Baseline (Month 0), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12
Other outcomes:
measure: Grade Point Average (GPA)
timeFrame: Baseline (Month 0), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12
measure: Course Completion
timeFrame: Baseline (Month 0), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12
measure: Program Retention and Completion
timeFrame: Baseline (Month 0), Month 3, Month 6, Month 9, Month 12
Locations:
city: Dallas
country: United States
facility: Dallas College
state: Texas
city: Richardson
country: United States
facility: University of Texas at Dallas
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Texas at Dallas
name: Lori Cook, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Chapman SB, Fratantoni JM, Robertson IH, D'Esposito M, Ling GSF, Zientz J, Vernon S, Venza E, Cook LG, Tate A, Spence JS. A Novel BrainHealth Index Prototype Improved by Telehealth-Delivered Training During COVID-19. Front Public Health. 2021 Mar 16;9:641754. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.641754. eCollection 2021.
citation: Zientz J, Spence JS, Chung SSE, Nanda U, Chapman SB. Exploring how brain health strategy training informs the future of work. Front Psychol. 2023 Sep 12;14:1175652. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1175652. eCollection 2023.
citation: Chapman SB, Aslan S, Spence JS, Hart JJ Jr, Bartz EK, Didehbani N, Keebler MW, Gardner CM, Strain JF, DeFina LF, Lu H. Neural mechanisms of brain plasticity with complex cognitive training in healthy seniors. Cereb Cortex. 2015 Feb;25(2):396-405. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht234. Epub 2013 Aug 28.
citation: Gamino JF, Chapman SB, Hull EL, Lyon GR. Effects of higher-order cognitive strategy training on gist-reasoning and fact-learning in adolescents. Front Psychol. 2010 Dec 9;1:188. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00188. eCollection 2010.