Brain Fitness APP for Aging With a Healthy Brain

NCT03600545 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: B2018:029
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 33
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Memory and cognitive declines are associated with normal brain aging but are also precursors to dementia, in particular the so called the pandemic of the century, Alzheimer's disease. While currently there is no cure or "vaccine" against dementia, there are hopes to delay the onset of the disease by living a brain-healthy life style. The proposed research offers a novel approach to prevent dementia and age-related cognitive disorders. It is proposed to create a brain fitness APP for the aging population. The proposed APP is based on the premise of brain plasticity, and targets the brain functions that are declining with normal aging and dementia. The proposed APP will be tested on a large population with statistical rigor (60 healthy individuals of age 65+ years and up to 30 individuals with cognitive impairment); the participants will be divided into an intervention group and a control group. We will analyze the logged performance of the participants, and assess their cognitive state with an independent test compared to a matched control group before and after the trial. It is anticipated that the frequent use of the proposed APP will help to maintain a healthy brain as well as detecting the onset of a cognitive decline in aging population. In addition, its frequent use will slow and even reverse the progression of the cognition decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The APP will have many different levels of difficulty so that it can be applied to a wide age range and conditions.

Conditions

Memory Problems

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The change in Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS IV) from baseline

  This assessment has a total of 11 tests, out of which we will use its six primary tests that assess our target brain functions, comprised of 12 subtests (subsections): Logical Memory 1, Verbal Paired Associates 1, Faces 1, Family Pictures 1, Logical Memory 2, Verbal Paired Associates 2, Faces 2, Family Pictures 2, Verbal Paired Associates 2 Recognition, Logical Memory 2 Recognition, Letter-Number Sequencing and Spatial Span. They are classified into 3 major memory indexes: Immediate Memory, General Memory and Working Memory. The WMS test is being purchased online from the following link; they do not provide a softcopy.

  baseline, post-intervention within a week after the end of 4-week trial and a month after the second assessment

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Egocentric Spatial Orientation

  baseline, post-intervention within a week after the end of 4-week trial and a month after the second assessment

• Change in MONTGOMERY ASBERG DEPRESSION RATING SCALE (MADRS)

  baseline, post-intervention within a week after the end of 4-week trial and a month after the second assessment

Study Arms (2)

Active

EXPERIMENTAL

4 weeks daily practice of the brain exercises

Other: Brain Fitness App

control

NO INTERVENTION

no brain exercises

Interventions

Brain Fitness App OTHER

Brain exercises using an iPAD

Active

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• MoCA ≥ 25
• Have no known or diagnosis of major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, mood disorder, Parkinson's disease, dementia of any type, or any other neurological degenerative disease.
• Capable of using an iPAD and access to Internet at home.
• Reading/writing fluency in English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Manitoba: lead
• AGE-WELL NCE Inc.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Riverview Health Center

Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3L 2P4, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Memory Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 11, 2018
• First Posted: July 26, 2018
• Study Start: June 20, 2018
• Primary Completion: April 10, 2019
• Study Completion: April 10, 2019
• Last Updated: February 24, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-02

Locations

CA (1)