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Virtual reality-based cognitive-motor training for middle-aged adults at high Alzheimer's disease risk: A randomized controlled trial
Doniger GM, Beeri MS, Bahar-Fuchs A, Gottlieb A, Tkachov A, Kenan H, Livny A, Bahat Y et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.), 2018-03-27
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Introduction Ubiquity of Alzheimer's disease (AD) coupled with relatively ineffectual pharmacologic treatments has spurred interest in nonpharmacologic lifestyle interventions for prevention or risk reduction. However, evidence of neuroplasticity notwithstanding, there are few scientifically rigorous, ecologically relevant brain training studies focused on building cognitive reserve in middle age to protect against cognitive decline. This pilot study will examine the ability of virtual reality (VR) cognitive training to improve cognition and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in middle-aged individuals at high AD risk due to parental history. Methods The design is an assessor-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial of VR cognitive-motor training in middle-aged adults with AD family history. The experimental group will be trained with adaptive "real-world" VR tasks targeting sustained and selective attention, working memory, covert rule deduction, and planning, while walking on a treadmill. One active control group will perform the VR tasks without treadmill walking; another will walk on a treadmill while watching scientific documentaries (nonspecific cognitive stimulation). A passive (waitlist) control group will not receive training. Training sessions will be 45 minutes, twice/week for 12 weeks. Primary outcomes are global cognition and CBF (from arterial spin labeling [ASL]) at baseline, immediately after training (training gain), and 3 months post-training (maintenance gain). We aim to recruit 125 participants, including 20 passive controls and 35 in the other groups. Discussion Current pharmacologic therapies are for symptomatic AD patients, whereas nonpharmacologic training is administrable before symptom onset. Emerging evidence suggests that cognitive training improves cognitive function. However, a more ecologically valid cognitive-motor VR setting that better mimics complex daily activities may augment transfer of trained skills. VR training has benefited clinical cohorts, but benefit in asymptomatic high-risk individuals is unknown. If effective, this trial may help define a prophylactic regimen for AD, adaptable for home-based application in high-risk individuals.
Key findings
- Emerging evidence suggests that cognitive training improves cognitive function.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Participants125
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 81/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 47 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 81 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 125 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29955655) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 47 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 47 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 81 out of 100. |
| Total | 81 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Doniger, G. M., Beeri, M. S., Bahar-Fuchs, A., Gottlieb, A., Tkachov, A., Kenan, H., et al. (2018). Virtual reality-based cognitive-motor training for middle-aged adults at high Alzheimer's disease risk: A randomized controlled trial. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2018.02.005
Vancouver
Doniger GM, Beeri MS, Bahar-Fuchs A, Gottlieb A, Tkachov A, Kenan H, et al. Virtual reality-based cognitive-motor training for middle-aged adults at high Alzheimer's disease risk: A randomized controlled trial. Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.). 2018. doi:10.1016/j.trci.2018.02.005. PMID: 29955655.
BibTeX
@article{doniger2018-29955655,
author = {Doniger, G. M. and Beeri, M. S. and Bahar-Fuchs, A. and Gottlieb, A. and Tkachov, A. and Kenan, H. and Livny, A. and Bahat, Y. and others},
title = {{Virtual reality-based cognitive-motor training for middle-aged adults at high Alzheimer's disease risk: A randomized controlled trial}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia (New York, N. Y.)},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.trci.2018.02.005},
pmid = {29955655},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2018.02.005}
}
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