Cognitive Reserve and Second Language Acquisition

Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Executive Function

Treatments: Behavioral: Duolingo; Behavioral: BrainHQ; Behavioral: Passive Control

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03638882

I2P2-2-00140

Details and patient eligibility

About

Bilingualism has been shown to have a strong protective effect against dementia, delaying the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by up to 4 years. The purpose of the study is to test whether learning a second language using Duolingo software could improve cognitive functions in older adults.

Full description

This study is a 3-arm, randomized controlled trial. The primary objective of the study is to test the impact of second language acquisition through short-term use of the Duolingo app on cognitive functioning, particularly executive function in older adults compared to a brain training application.

Enrollment: 90 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65 to 75 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participants must have normal vision and hearing.
• Participants must be able to travel to Baycrest by personal or study-arranged automobile, or public transportation.
• Participants must be monolingual native English speakers.
• Participants must be willing to provide informed consent.
• Participants must have daily access to a smartphone/mobile device.
• Have not previously studied Spanish formally, nor any other language in the past 10 years.

Exclusion criteria

• have a neurological disorder.
• meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for Axis I mood, anxiety, or psychotic or substance abuse disorders.
• Fluent in more than one language.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

90 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Duolingo Spanish Course

Experimental group

Description:

30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Duolingo

BrainHQ

Active Comparator group

Description:

30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.

Treatment:

Behavioral: BrainHQ

Passive Control

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

No intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Passive Control