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Alzheimer DiseaseNCT04942184

STRATEGIES to Improve Memory in Alzheimer's Disease

A study testing Memory strategies in Arm 1, Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1 and Tablet in Arm 1 in people with Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, Mild, run by Boston University.

Withdrawn

Withdrawn. The study stopped before anyone enrolled.

Official record
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Trial summary

Memory mistakes are one of the most detrimental symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In this study the investigators will measure the long-term efficacy of memory strategies in patients with AD. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 50 to 90 years
What is being tested?
Memory strategies in Arm 1, Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1 and Tablet in Arm 1
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
0 participants
Where
No sites listed yet
Study dates
Oct 2022to Jun 2023
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 50 to 90 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • For Mild Alzheimer Disease (AD) dementia
  • meets probable AD dementia National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Association (NIA-AA) criteria
  • Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) 20-27
  • performance on delayed recall and recognition memory worse than 1.5 standard deviation (SD) for age and education
  • performance on delayed recall and recognition memory worse than 1.5 SD for age \& education in at least one other cognitive domain (e.g., language, executive functioning) based on other tests in our neuropsychological test battery.
  • Dr. Turk and Dr. Budson will confirm all mild AD dementia diagnoses
Show all 11Show fewer
  • For Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
  • meets MCI due to AD NIA-AA criteria
  • MMSE > 23
  • performance on delayed recall and recognition memory worse than 1.0 SD for age \& education adjusted norms
  • Dr. Turk and Dr. Budson will confirm all MCI due to AD diagnoses

Who cannot join

  • A clinically significant problem of any of the following conditions:
  • depression
  • heavy alcohol or drug use
  • cerebrovascular disease
  • traumatic brain damage
  • a different degenerative disease (e.g., fronto-temporal dementia, Parkinson's disease)
  • any medical condition whose severity could significantly impair cognition (e.g., organ failure)
  • Unable to understand the consent form

About this study

Official title: Improving Memory in Daily Life of Patients With Alzheimer's Disease

Memory mistakes are one of the most detrimental symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). In this study the investigators will measure the long-term efficacy of memory strategies in patients with AD. First, the efficacy of the strategies will be evaluated in the laboratory by analyzing the behavioral response and the brain activity of the patients. During the first visit, patients will be taught the memory strategies and asked to repeat them at home for 4 weeks. During this period of time, patients will perform several memory tasks while their performance and brain activity will be measured using portable devices. Monitoring brain activity and behavioral responses to memory tasks will provide insightful information on the efficacy of the strategies and allow the investigation of how patients can maintain the strategies over time. The research will examine if improving memory through the use of cognitive strategies, can positively affect other domains of daily life.

Read the detailed description

A crossover design with two groups will be implemented to test the following objectives:

Primary Objective: To determine the long-term efficacy of memory strategies in AD patients using experimental memory paradigms and standard neuropsychological tests. Over the course of 4 weeks, performance on novel memory tasks and standard neuropsychological tests will evaluate the efficacy of the strategies longitudinally.

Secondary Objectives:

  1. To determine the neural mechanism of memory strategies in AD patients through portable electroencephalogram/event-related potential (EEG/ERP) electrophysiology. Portable EEG will allow us to measure the electrophysiological changes associated with the use of memory strategies over time during daily life of patients with AD.
  2. To determine how memory strategies, influence the daily life and functioning of the AD patients. Questionnaires on daily life activities will be administered at different timepoints to determine whether patients are able to generalize the strategies to tasks in their daily life.

This research study will investigate whether the use of combined memory strategies (conservative and deep/item-specific encoding) can help improve performance in memory tasks, can be maintained over time, and can be generalized to other tasks in daily life. Depending on the study group, either at week 0 visit or week 2 visit, participants will be trained on the two strategies. A power point presentation will be used to display one example of each of the strategies and how to implement them during the tablet/Ipad tasks. At this time the investigators will answer any other specific questions that might come up about the strategies. Before starting the cognitive tasks at home on the app, the tablet will remind participants about using the strategies, and this will also include an example how the strategies should be implemented.

The two memory strategies will be implemented in the described steps below:

While being presented with a list of items (words or objects), participants will be asked to focus on one unique characteristic of the items (item-specific encoding strategy). Afterwards, another list of items, containing previously studied (old) and unstudied (new) items, will be presented. Participants will be asked to recognize whether the item was presented in the previous list and respond "yes" only if they are absolutely sure of their response (conservative strategy). Participants will then be provided with a number of real-world examples to practice generalizing what they have learned.

Being tested
Memory strategies in Arm 1, Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1, Tablet in Arm 1, Memory strategies in Arm 2, Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 2
Keywords
Memory, Memory Strategies, EEG headgear
Medical subject headings
Alzheimer Disease, Dementia, Lymphoma, Follicular, Cognitive Dysfunction

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Memory strategies in Arm 1Behavioural

    Memory strategies will consist of daily at-home exercises lasting between 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the memory tasks assigned to each participant. At the start of week 1 participants will be taught the memory strategies to use while completing the daily memory tasks. In week 1 and 2, subjects will be reminded daily to use the memory strategies. At the start of week 3, subjects will be advised to use the memory strategies however they will not be given daily reminders.

  • Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1Device

    A cap that measures brain activity using a 16-sensor wireless dry (no gel applied) EEG device designed by BrainWaveBank Ltd., that uses Bluetooth technology to securely transmit EEG signals to an Android tablet. The cap will be used during week 1,2,3 and 4.

  • Tablet in Arm 1Other

    A computer tablet will be provided to each participant that will have daily reminders about the memory strategies during week 1 and 2, while no reminders will be present in week 3 and 4. The tablet software includes a user-friendly interface that provides feedback and instructions that help the participant properly wear the EEG headset. At the end of each session the tablet stores behavioral and EEG data on a secured server accessible by the research staff.

  • Memory strategies in Arm 2Behavioural

    Memory strategies will consist of daily at home exercises lasting between 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on the memory tasks assigned to each participant. During weeks 1 and 2, participants will be completing the memory tasks without being instructed to use any specific strategy. At the end of week 2 subjects will be taught the memory strategies and during week 3 and 4, they will be reminded daily to use the memory strategies while completing the memory tasks.

  • Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 2Device

    A cap that measures brain activity using a 16-sensor wireless dry (no gel applied) EEG device designed by BrainWaveBank Ltd., that uses Bluetooth technology to securely transmit EEG signals to an Android tablet. The cap will be used during week 1,2,3 and 4.

  • Tablet in Arm 2Other

    A computer tablet will be provided to each participant. During week 3 and 4, the tablet will present daily reminders to use memory strategies while completing the memory tasks. The tablet software includes a user-friendly interface that provides feedback and instructions that help the participant properly wear the EEG headset. At the end of each session the tablet stores behavioral and EEG data on a secured server accessible by the research staff.

Study groups in NCT04942184
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Group 1- 15 Mild AD and 15 MCI due to ADExperimentalIn Group 1, for the first 2 weeks participants will be taught memory strategies and reminded to use them each day from week 0 to week 2. Weeks 3-4, participants will be advised to keep using the strategies both on the tablet and in their daily life even though they will not be reminded each time they start the task.
Receives: Behavioral: Memory strategies in Arm 1; Device: Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1; Other: Tablet in Arm 1
Group 2- 15 Mild AD and 15 MCI due to ADActive comparatorIn Group 2, for the first 2 weeks participants will be reminded to "try hard" to remember the items although they will not be given any specific strategies. At week 2 the subjects will be taught memory strategies and reminded to use them each day from week 2 to week 4.
Receives: Behavioral: Memory strategies in Arm 2; Device: Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 2; Other: Tablet in Arm 2

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in performance in memory tasks over time

    Change in performance in memory tasks will be measured through daily at home memory exercises that will last from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Higher the scores on the exercise represent better memory performance.

    Measured: baseline, 4 weeks

Secondary outcomes (8)
  1. Change in electroencephalogram (EEG) early negative frontal component (N400)

    Change in EEG early negative frontal component (N400) will be assessed by measuring amplitude and latency characteristics of this EEG component. A higher amplitude and shorter latency will show improvement in memory performance.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  2. Change in EEG Late Positive Parietal Component (LPC)

    Change in EEG Late Positive Parietal Component (LPC) will be assessed by measuring amplitude and latency characteristics of this EEG component. A higher amplitude and shorter latency will show improvement in memory performance.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  3. Change in EEG Late Positive Frontal Effect (LFE)

    Change in EEG Late Positive Frontal Effect (LFE) will be assessed by measuring the amplitude and latency characteristics of this EEG component. A higher amplitude and shorter latency will show improvement in memory performance.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  4. Neuropsychological assessment using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

    Neuropsychological assessment will be completed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

    The MoCA has a total score of 30, and a higher score means improved cognitive performance.

    Measured: baseline, 4 weeks

  5. Neuropsychological assessment using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS).

    Neuropsychological assessment will be completed using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). The RBANS has a total index score of 160, and it measures performance in the following domains: immediate memory, visuospatial, language, attention, and delayed memory. A higher score on the RBANS means improved cognitive performance.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  6. Generalization of strategies to daily life functioning

    Generalization of strategies will be assessed through the Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL) which is a 31-item questionnaire assessing the ability to complete activities of daily living. The minimum score is 0 while the maximum score is 279. A lower score on the Activities of Daily life scale means a greater level of independence in completing activities of daily life.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  7. Quality of life with Alzheimer's disease

    Quality of life will be assessed with the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease (QoLAD) which is a 13-item questionnaire assessing different aspects of quality of life. The minimum score is 13 and the maximum is 52. A higher score represents better quality of life.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

  8. Subjective perception of memory performance

    Subjective perception of memory performance will be assessed using the Multifactorial Metamemory Questionnaire (MMQ), which is a 61-item questionnaire divided in three subcategories (Contentment, Ability and Strategy). The minimum score is 0 and the maximum is 244. A higher score means a better subjective memory performance.

    Measured: Baseline, 4 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted28 Jun 2021
  2. Study startOct 2022 (estimated)
  3. Primary completionJun 2023 (estimated)
  4. Study completionJun 2023 (estimated)

Why it stopped: Study was never started due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
0 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04942184
Sponsor's protocol ID
H-40597
Other IDs
P30AG013846
Status last verified
Oct 2022
First submitted
9 Jun 2021
Last updated
1 Nov 2022
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Memory strategies in Arm 1, Electroencephalogram (EEG) headset in Arm 1 and Tablet in Arm 1 in people with Alzheimer Disease and Dementia, Mild, run by Boston University.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 11 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: withdrawn, as of the sponsor's last update on 1 Nov 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study was withdrawn before enrolling participants, so there are no results.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in performance in memory tasks over time (time frame: baseline, 4 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 1 Nov 2022.

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