Enhancing Cognitive Control Abilities Using Mobile Technology in a Senior Living Community

NCT04905849 | Terminated Results DMC

• 1 other identifier: R21AG058896
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 12
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to test the feasibility of launching a personalized digital health assessment and remediation program for the older adults in senior living communities based upon an initial characterization of these abilities. Evidence of feasibility here using these unique methodological approaches would provide empirical evidence supporting the basis for a larger-scale implementation of such digital health technologies into less controlled senior settings.

Conditions

Aging; Cognitive Change

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of Participants Who Attempted to Complete the Adaptive Cognitive Evaluation (ACE) From Baseline at 6 Weeks

  ACE is a custom mobile cognitive health assessment battery that presents paradigms typically used in standard cognitive neuroscience laboratories. Here the investigators will assess a measure of (1) Attention and (2) Working memory in the ACE software.

  At Baseline and post intervention at the 6 week mark

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Mean Performance on the Everyday Cognition Scale (ECog) From Baseline at 6 Weeks

  At Baseline and post intervention at the 6 week mark

• Mean Change on Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) From Baseline at 6 Weeks

  At Baseline and post intervention at the 6 week mark

• Mean Change on General Health and Well-being (SF-36) From Baseline at 6 Weeks

  At Baseline and post intervention at the 6 week mark

Study Arms (2)

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

EXPERIMENTAL

There are three modules within the game, each training a different aspect of cognitive control (attention, goal management, working memory): a visual search task for attention abilities, a spatial span task for working memory, and a task switching paradigm for goal management abilities. There are also 3 different levels of difficulty associated with each module; advancing to the next level delivers an advanced challenge that enhances the difficulty in performing the given cognitive task. Participants advance to the next level of difficulty following 6 training sessions occurring over 2 weeks, with the total training experience being 6 weeks of training (3 days/week), with each training session lasting 36 minutes (not including self-paced breaks).

Behavioral: Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

Active Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

An active control application will be used for this arm. The total training experience here will also be for 6 weeks (3 days/week), with each training session lasting \~30 minutes (not including self-paced breaks). Here an app that is matched in terms of expectancy of benefits compared to our training groups will be determined by questioning 100 naïve individuals to predict their expected improvement on each cognitive domain across a multitude of possible applications.

Behavioral: Active Control App

Interventions

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT) BEHAVIORAL

Module 1: Attention=\> This module demands an active scan of the screen in search for a target, much like traditional visual search tasks. Participants quickly identify the direction that a probe target is facing (up, down, left, right), and are aided by the presence of directional cue indicating where the location of the target will appear. Module 2: Goal Management=\> Requires participants to rapidly switch their focus based on distinct rules. Participants are presented with exemplar objects along with a target, and are asked to indicate which exemplar presented is most like the target. Module 3: Working Memory=\> Engages spatial working memory resources similar to the Corsi block task. Participants memorize the location of objects on screen followed by a 5-7 second delay period, with a correct response leading to a greater number of potential targets to be memorized on the next trial (and vice versa).

Adaptive Cognitive Control Trainer (ACCT)

Active Control App BEHAVIORAL

The app used here is undergoing expectancy-matching at the present time, will be updated with the final app characteristics when completed out of a list of several possibilities

Active Control Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 50 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Must be living at a Senior Living Community
• have own iPad and/or smartphone,
• native-English speaker.
• Participation across a spectrum of cognitive abilities is desired for this study, specifically for older adults in a community setting.

You may not qualify if:

• Do not have any physical or cognitive limitations that would clearly prevent them from utilizing these applications as intended

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco: lead
• National Institute on Aging (NIA): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

UC San Francisco

San Francisco, California, 94158, United States

Location

Limitations and Caveats

The primary limitation was the onset of COVID pandemic, which prevented the study from being completed entirely, in any way, like the originally designed study. This restricted the amount, quality, and extent of data collected. Our partners at Brookdale acknowledged that they would not be able to contribute to this project as desired as "we're trying to keep our seniors alive right now, and do not have the bandwidth to help with any other endeavors"

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Joaquin A. Anguera, Associate Professor
• Organization: UC San Francisco

joaquin.anguera@ucsf.edu

415 502 7322

Study Officials

• Joaquin Anguera, Ph.D.

  UC San Francisco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SEQUENTIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 24, 2021
• First Posted: May 28, 2021
• Study Start: May 1, 2021
• Primary Completion: October 1, 2022
• Study Completion: December 1, 2022
• Last Updated: July 3, 2025
• Results First Posted: July 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)