Calligraphy Writing for Cognitive and Emotional Enhancement Among Older MCI People (CALLI-MCI)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment

Treatments: Behavioral: Calligraphy Training; Behavioral: iPad Training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02755792

Calligraphy-MCI

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is aimed to investigate the efficacy of an 12-week Chinese calligraphy training program for enhancing cognitive and emotional functions of older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Participants are tested with several cognitive tests and electroencephalography (EEG), psycho-physical parameters and brain activities are recorded. Results are compared at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 6-month post-intervention to provide evidence of benefits of Chinese calligraphy practice.

Full description

Participants are older adults with mild cognitive impairment, who will be recruited from several community elderly centers in Hong Kong according to selective criteria. The participants are randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. The experimental group is invited to participate in 16 sessions of structured Chinese calligraphy program over 12 weeks. Each session lasts for 1.5 hours. The control group is invited to participate in an iPad learning program with navigating the Internet. The iPad program is also consisted of 16 sessions of 1.5 hours each over 8 weeks. Cognitive tests and physiological measures are conducted immediately before and after intervention and at 6-month post-intervention follow-up. Statistical analysis are performed to investigate the significant differences and interactions among the three time points. The association of cognitive performance and emotional calmness is also investigated.

Selected participants are invited to take part in a EEG session while doing some computer tasks related to Chinese calligraphy. EEG results of are used to explore neural activities associated with visuospatial working memory and to provide evidence for neural changes at functional level as a result of Chinese calligraphy training and practice.

Enrollment: 99 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 60+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Meeting Petersen's criteria for mild cognitive impairment
• Being able to read simple Chinese characters
• Community-dwelling
• Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0.5
• No substantial prior experience of calligraphy writing
• Willing to write using a brush and willing to participate

Exclusion criteria

• Presence of musculoskeletal problems preventing participants from writing
• Known chronic cardiovascular (e.g. systolic BP > 140mmHg) or pulmonary conditions requiring long-term medication
• Presence of severe mental disorder such as psychosis or depression.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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99 participants in 2 patient groups

Calligraphy Training

Experimental group

Description:

This group receives a Chinese calligraphy training program of 16 sessions over 8 weeks in a class of 8-12 participants. Each session is 1.5 hours.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Calligraphy Training

iPad Training

Active Comparator group

Description:

This group receives an iPad training program of 16 sessions over 8 weeks in a class of 8-12 participants. Each session is 1.5 hours.

Treatment:

Behavioral: iPad Training