WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGY AND COGNITIVE TRAINING: IMPROVING EXECUTIVE CONTROL IN COGNITIVELYHEALTHY OLDER ADULTS…

Assistance award details

Assistance award identifier

ASST_NON_R00AG078561_075

FAIN

R00AG078561

Recipient

RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY

Awarding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Funding agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Assistance listing (CFDA)

93.866

Total obligated

$491,163

Period

Sep 1, 2022 – Jan 31, 2028

Fiscal year

2025

Place of performance state

NJ

Source file

FY2025_All_Assistance_Full_20261006.zip

Description

WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGY AND COGNITIVE TRAINING: IMPROVING EXECUTIVE CONTROL IN COGNITIVELYHEALTHY OLDER ADULTS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT DEVELOPING EFFICIENT COGNITIVE TRAINING FOR COGNITIVELY INTACT OLDER ADULTS (OA) IS A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH GOAL, DUE TO ITS POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING AGE-RELATED COGNITIVE DECLINE AND ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE/DEMENTIA RISK. EXECUTIVE CONTROL (EC) IS A RELEVANT TRAINING TARGET SINCE IT DECLINES WITH AGING AND IS CRITICAL FOR MULTI-TASKING IN DAILY LIFE. EC TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR OA HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO LEAD TO COGNITIVE IMPROVEMENTS, BUT IT REMAINS UNCLEAR WHETHER IT ENHANCES MULTI-TASKING ABILITY AND TRANSFER TO DIFFERENT TASKS AND CONTEXT, SUCH AS EVERYDAY LIFE. MOST EC TRAINING PROTOCOLS FAIL TO ADOPT ECOLOGICAL TASKS, WHICH LIMIT ITS CLINICAL RELEVANCE AND GENERALIZATION. A PROMISING EC TRAINING APPROACH IS EMPHASIS CHANGE (EMCH), WHICH HAS SHOWN TO BENEFIT BOTH YOUNGER AND OA. SIMILAR APPROACHES HAVE SHOWN TRAINING-TRANSFER IN OA, SUGGESTING THAT EMCH MAY BE AN APPROPRIATE METHOD TO INDUCE TRANSFER IN OA. TO DATE, EMCH HAS NOT BEEN APPLIED IN ECOLOGICAL TASKS THAT SIMULATE A DAILY LIFE SITUATION, NOR HAS IT BEEN IMPLEMENTED REMOTELY THROUGH A WEB-BASED INTERFACE. THE WEB-BASED TRAINING IS AN ADVANCEMENT SINCE IT CAN BE DELIVERED AT HOME AND IS EASILY SCALABLE. RECENTLY, REMOTE INTERVENTIONS HAVE BEEN RELEVANT TO OA DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHICH LIMITS IN-PERSON RESEARCH PARTICIPATION. THE CURRENT PROPOSAL SEEKS TO BRIDGE THE ABOVE GAPS BY IMPLEMENTING EMCH THROUGH THE BREAKFAST GAME (B-GAME), A WEB-BASED ECOLOGICAL TRAINING PLATFORM THAT SIMULATES A DAILY LIFE ENVIRONMENT AND IS FEASIBLE IN OA. THE AIMS 1 AND 2 (K99 PHASE) OF THIS PROPOSAL WILL BE BASED ON A PILOT STUDY WITH COGNITIVELY HEALTHY OA IN ORDER TO 1) INVESTIGATE ACCEPTABILITY/USABILITY AND STRUCTURE OF A 12-SESSION TRAINING PROTOCOL BASED ON WEB B-GAME, AND 2) THE EFFECTS OF EMCH APPROACH, IN COMPARISON TO A CONTROL INTERVENTION. THE K99 PHASE WILL PROVIDE PILOT DATA REGA