Cognitive Training Through Gaming and Walking

NCT04638413 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00001030
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 32
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of combining daily walking and gamified inhibitory control training. Feasibility was defined by recruitment, retention, and adherence to arm requirements, with secondary, exploratory analyses examining cognitive function outcomes

Conditions

Healthy Lifestyle

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Recruitment and Retention

  Percentage of randomized participants who complete the final study visit/assessment at the end of the intervention period. Completion is defined as providing primary outcome data (objective adherence logs), calculated as (number completing final assessment / number randomized) × 100.

  Immediately after the 4 week study

• Rate of walking regimen completion

  Activity will be continuously recorded by the Fitbit to monitor whether participants engage in daily physical activity. There are a total of 9 and 18 walking sessions that may be completed for participants assigned to the control group and intervention group, respectively. Competing one of the sessions entails completing 30 minutes of walking with a wearable. A ratio of completion will be calculated using the number of walking sessions completed over the total amount of sessions possible.

  Daily starting at baseline and for 4 continuous weeks

• Rate of gamified cognitive training completion

  Participants' interactions with the app (PolyRules!) will be passively recorded by the software to monitor training session completion. There are a total of 8 or more sessions that may be completed for participants assigned to the condition. Competing one of the sessions entails completing 30 minutes of cognitive training session using the application. A ratio of completion will be calculated using the number of sessions completed over the total amount of sessions possible.

  Daily starting at baseline and for 4 continuous weeks

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Change in Corsi Task performance from baseline to 4 weeks

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

• Change in Letter-Number Task performance from baseline to 4 weeks

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

• Change in N-Back Task performance from baseline to 4 weeks

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

• Change in Cancellation Task performance from baseline to 4 weeks

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

• Change in Flanker Task performance from baseline to 4 weeks

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

Other Outcomes (1)

• Executive functioning

  At baseline; Immediately after the 4-week study

Study Arms (2)

Walking regimen (W)

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Walking (W)

Walking regimen + gamified inhibitory control training (W+PolyRules!)

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Walking + PolyRules! (W+PolyRules!)

Interventions

Walking (W) BEHAVIORAL

Participants engage in 30 min of walking daily, for three weeks.

Walking regimen (W)

Walking + PolyRules! (W+PolyRules!) BEHAVIORAL

Participants alternate between 30 min of walking on half of the days and 30 min of gamified inhibitory control on the other days.

Walking regimen + gamified inhibitory control training (W+PolyRules!)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 99 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Able to read, write, and speak English with acceptable visual and auditory acuity, as the app is only available in English
• Able and willing to walk independently with or without walking aids
• Able and willing to engage in 30 minutes of walking daily
• Able and willing to wear a fitness tracking device (e.g. Fitbit)
• Not currently engaging in a daily walking regimen of 30 minutes or more a day

You may not qualify if:

• Visual impairments that would preclude participants from using the app
• Undergoing active cancer treatment
• Diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy, severe musculoskeletal or neurodegenerative disease (e.g. dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, etc.)
• Taking medications that may affect cognitive function
• Pacemaker, implantable cardiac defibrillator, neuro-stimulation devices, cochlear implants, implantable hearing aids, or other electronic medical equipment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: lead

Study Sites (1)

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Los Angeles, California, 90048, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Walking

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Locomotion; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Exercise; Motor Activity

Study Officials

• Sarah J Salvy, PhD

  Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor, Department of Medicine

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 29, 2020
• First Posted: November 20, 2020
• Study Start: May 26, 2022
• Primary Completion: January 4, 2023
• Study Completion: February 12, 2025
• Last Updated: November 5, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Locations

US (1)