Cognitive Reserve and Second Language Acquisition

NCT03638882 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: I2P2-2-00140
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 90
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Bilingualism has been shown to have a strong protective effect against dementia, delaying the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by up to 4 years. The purpose of the study is to test whether learning a second language using Duolingo software could improve cognitive functions in older adults.

Conditions

Executive Function

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in working memory, n-back

  Working memory assessed by the n-back test

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

• Change in inhibitory Control, Simon task

  Inhibitory control assessed by the Simon task

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

• Change in inhibitory Control, DKEFS

  DKEFS Colour Word Interference

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in attention abilities

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

• Change in language abilities

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

• change in verbal fluency

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

• executive function assessed by trailmaking test

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

Other Outcomes (1)

• Spanish Proficiency (Duolingo group only)

  change from baseline to 16 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Duolingo Spanish Course

EXPERIMENTAL

30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.

Behavioral: Duolingo

BrainHQ

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.

Behavioral: BrainHQ

Passive Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

No intervention.

Behavioral: Passive Control

Interventions

Duolingo BEHAVIORAL

Will learn Spanish using the commercially available Duolingo application. It is a computerized language training program.

Duolingo Spanish Course

BrainHQ BEHAVIORAL

Will use the commercially available Posit Science product Brain HQ. Brain HQ is a computerized adaptive cognitive brain training program.

BrainHQ

Passive Control BEHAVIORAL

No Intervention.

Passive Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years - 75 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participants must have normal vision and hearing.
• Participants must be able to travel to Baycrest by personal or study-arranged automobile, or public transportation.
• Participants must be monolingual native English speakers.
• Participants must be willing to provide informed consent.
• Participants must have daily access to a smartphone/mobile device.
• Have not previously studied Spanish formally, nor any other language in the past 10 years.

You may not qualify if:

• have a neurological disorder.
• meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for Axis I mood, anxiety, or psychotic or substance abuse disorders.
• Fluent in more than one language.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest: lead
• University of Toronto: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Baycrest Health Sciences

Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2E1, Canada

RECRUITING

Central Study Contacts

Jed Meltzer, Ph.D.

CONTACT

416-785-2500; jmeltzer@research.baycrest.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Neurorehabilitation Scientist

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 4, 2018
• First Posted: August 20, 2018
• Study Start: August 1, 2018
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2020
• Study Completion: October 1, 2020
• Last Updated: September 19, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-09

Locations

CA (1)