Cognitive Multi-Tasking Training in Healthy Older Adults

Columbia University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Age-related Cognitive Decline

Treatments: Behavioral: Multi-tasking Training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04195230

AAAS6529

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluated the feasibility of a remote web-based ecological cognitive training protocol to healthy older adults. The training protocol involves 5 training sessions.

Full description

Previous research demonstrated the relevance in training cognitive abilities that typically decline with age, such as those associated with executive control (e.g., abstract thinking, selective and divided attention, planning, task-switching and inhibitory control). The aim of the present study is to investigate the feasibility of a web-based cognitive training focused on executive control to cognitively healthy older adults. The participants will undergo the web-training in a daily type situation of meal preparation (i.e., Breakfast Game). The training protocol combines the tasks of table setting and cooking in a multi-tasking fashion. In some sessions Emphasis Change approach will be apply to the training, in order to assess it feasibility and potential effects in optimizing the performance. In addition, participants will undergo a brief web-based cognitive evaluation before and after training. If feasible, the investigators protocol will allow training older adults in critical cognitive skills for daily life situations. The web-based training is an advancement since it can be delivered at-home, remotely supervised, and is easily scalable. Recently, remote interventions have been particularly relevant to older adults due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may limit in-person research participation.

Enrollment: 24 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 60 to 75 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Cognitively healthy older adults

Exclusion criteria

• Low test scores (below 26 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment - MoCA)
• Presence of certain medical conditions (i.e., major neurological or psychiatric disorder, or a medical condition that may impact cognitive functioning).
• Subjects which English is not the primary language, or with lack of capacity to consent will not be enrolled.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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24 participants in 1 patient group

Computerized Cognitive Training (Breakfast Game)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will undergo a pilot training protocol where they will have to perform two tasks concomitantly, in a multi-tasking fashion. The tasks are related to everyday activities as "cooking" and "setting tables".

Treatment:

Behavioral: Multi-tasking Training