Cognitive/Physical Computer-Game Blended Training of Elderly: Neuroscientific LLM Studies (LLM-AUTH)

Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy; Mild Dementia; Mild Cognitive Impairment, So Stated

Treatments: Other: VideoGrade; Other: Brain Fitness; Other: FFA; Other: LLM

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02313935

84171-A

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study involved Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and more specifically computer exercises blended with game activities. It was hypothesized that ICT facilitated, game blended cognitive and/or physical exercise improves global cognition when compared to control groups; moreover, these improvements may be manifested by brain activity changes; we explored the impact of potential moderators on combined exercise-induced cognitive benefits, as well as, individual/separate training schemes.

Full description

The study was conducted in the Thessaloniki (Greece), in various centers. It was part of the Long Lasting Memories (LLM) project (www.longlastingmemories.eu), which was funded by the European Commission (Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Program (ICT-PSP) for a three year period (2009-2012). It used a pre-post-test design with the between-participant factor group [intervention(s) vs. passive and/or active control]. Post-test was conducted within 2 weeks after completion of the exercise period. Interventions were carried out in Thessaloniki (Greece) within day care centers, hospitals, senior care centers, a memory outpatient center, local parishes, and at participants' homes.

Centers had to provide 8 exercise weeks, with a frequency of at least 2 physical and 3 cognitive exercise sessions per week, resulting in at least 16 physical and 24 cognitive exercise sessions in total.

A similar trial was registered with Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02267499

Enrollment: 581 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 55+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• no severe cognitive impairment [MMSE ≥ 18]
• fluent language skills
• agreement of a medical doctor
• time commitment to the test and exercise protocol.

Exclusion criteria

• concurrent participation in another study
• severe physical or psychological disorders which precluded participation in the intervention (i.e., inability to follow instructions)
• unrecovered neurological disorders such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, unstable medication within the past three months
• severe and uncorrectable vision problems, or hearing aid for less than three months.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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581 participants in 5 patient groups

LLM

Experimental group

Description:

LLM training Participants use the FitForAll exergaming computer platform as the physical training component (PTC); Participants use the language adapted Version of the BrainFitness Program as the cognitive training component (CTC)

Treatment:

Other: LLM

PTC

Experimental group

Description:

Physical training only. Participants use the FitForAll exergaming computer platform as the physical training component (PTC).

Treatment:

Other: FFA

CTC

Experimental group

Description:

Cognitive training only. Participants use the language adapted Version of the BrainFitness Program as the cognitive training component (CTC)

Treatment:

Other: Brain Fitness

Passive

No Intervention group

Description:

Passive Control Participants do not receive an intervention serving as passive controls

Active

Active Comparator group

Description:

Active Control Participants receive an alternative cognitive training scheme; software was built on purpose by the AUTH team. The software is called VideoGrade and uses YouTube documentaries.

Treatment:

Other: VideoGrade