Improving Thinking in Everyday Life: Pilot Study A

Overview

This is a pilot study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The purpose of this initial study is to test how effective a new therapy is for improving participants ability to think, particularly how rapidly they process information that they receive from their senses, e.g., sight, hearing,… . The study will also test whether the new therapy improves how often and how well they are able to carry out tasks that rely on thinking in their daily life. The therapy will combine a computer game that ask participants to identify targets on the screen as rapidly as possible with a set of psychological techniques that will help to apply the improvements that are made in how rapidly participants process information as a result of the game to carrying out tasks that rely on thinking in your daily life.

The purpose of this pilot study is to develop and test an intervention for slow processing of sensory input that not only increases the speed of processing but also produces improvement in how much and how well adults with this type of cognitive impairment carry out everyday tasks that rely on cognitive function. The intervention will combine Speed of Processing Training (SOPT) with a modified form of the Transfer Package from Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy). SOPT has been shown to increase speed of processing in a variety of patient populations. The Transfer Package has been shown to produce transfer of gains from the treatment setting to everyday life when combined with training of arm use in the treatment in adults after stroke. The length of each treatment session will vary from 2 to 3.5 hours per day, the number of treatment days per week will range from 2 to 5, and the number of weeks of treatment will range from 2 to 10. Accordingly, the interval between testing occasions may change depending on the findings from initial pilot work. Total hours of treatment will not exceed 35. Ranges are given rather than precise values because part of the purpose of this pilot work is to decide, on a preliminary basis, what is the best schedule of delivery. In addition, four follow-up telephone calls will be conducted each week for the first month after the end of treatment. Then, a follow-up telephone call will be placed once a month for up to 11 months. These telephone calls will permit elements of the Transfer Package to be delivered remotely, helping the patient to transition from taking part in treatment to living their daily lives. Each telephone call will last 30 to 60 minutes. The outcomes that will be assessed are: speed of processing, performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) that place demands on cognitive activity in the laboratory setting, and performance of IADL that place demands on cognitive activity outside the laboratory setting. There will be two baseline testing sessions, followed by post-treatment testing, and testing six months and 12 months after treatment. The two baseline testing sessions will be separated by a week, and will permit any changes observed after treatment to be compared to what takes place when no treatment is provided. In other words, the baseline testing sessions will provide a source of within-subject control. If a caregiver is available, the caregiver will be asked to complete CTAL interviews about the participant (see below) and will be invited to support the participant in following the Transfer Package elements of the treatment (see below). Repeated measures analysis of variance models will be used to evaluate if statistically significant improvements take place as a result of treatment.