Online Interplay Between Deciding and Acting With Mild Cognitive Impairment

University of Delaware

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment

Treatments: Behavioral: Reaching Movements

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT06493422

2026374-5

U54GM104941 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators aim to understand the interplay and neural structures involved with decision--making and movement for participants with mild cognitive impairment. Rapidly deciding and acting becomes bottlenecked with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's, leading to detrimental outcomes such as falling and car crashes. The investigators work will have a tangible impact by discovering sensitive biomarkers to detect disease onset and pave the way for informed and effective neurorehabilitation.

Full description

Mild cognitive impairment leads not only to impaired decision making, but also movement deficits that predict the development of Alzheimer's disease. Recent behavioral work has suggested a common mechanism that throttles the speed of both decisions and reaching movements, which is supported by converging neural evidence that finds an interac-tion between decision making and movement (motor) circuits. Yet it remains unknown how the interplay between decision making and motor neural circuits becomes impaired and impedes rapid responses for those with mild cognitive impairment. Here the investigators test the central hypothesis that there is an impaired interaction between decision making and motor neural circuits with mild cognitive impairment.

First, the investigators will use human reaching experiments to establish that mild cognitive impairment disrupts the interplay of decision making and motor control. Second, the investigators will use Magnetic resonance elastography to elucidate whether brain stiffness in decision making and motor brain regions are related to altered movement behavior. The expected outcome is a mechanistic understanding of how impaired decision making and motor neural circuits impact movement for those with mild cognitive impairment.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 45 to 90 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. age 45 - 90 years
2. Perfect or corrected vision
3. Ability to reach
4. Neurotypical Age-Matched control participants - No history of neurological disorders or injury.
5. Mild Cognitive Impairment participants - clinical diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Exclusion criteria

1. Any injury or condition that impacts reaching
2. Traumatic brain injury, such as concussion, in the last 6 months.
3. Neurotypical Age-Matched control participants: Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) score < 34
4. Mild Cognitive Impairment participants: Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) score > 34
5. Mild Cognitive Impairment participants: Mini-Mental State Examination Second Edition (MMSE-2) score < 21.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Reaching task

Experimental group

Description:

Mild cognitive impairment participants will make decisions while moving

Treatment:

Behavioral: Reaching Movements

Reaching Task

Active Comparator group

Description:

Age-match control participants will make decision while moving

Treatment:

Behavioral: Reaching Movements