This study will determine whether targeted cognitive training, a low-cost and low-risk commercial cognitive remediation therapy, directly impacts therapeutic targets as well as secondary outcomes in college undergraduates. The active intervention will be compared to an active control condition (computer games). Participants will also attend CSU TILT (The Institute for Teaching and Learning) Academic Workshops.
The primary goal of this project is to investigate whether commercial cognitive remediation therapy improves cognitive functioning in college undergraduates. The secondary goal is to investigate neurophysiological, cognitive, and psychosocial mechanisms of change. The investigators will compare cognitive remediation therapy to computer games. The active control condition will allow the investigators to determine whether targeted cognitive training, as an adjunct to academic skills training provided by CSU TILT, provides significant improvement over computer games alone (which is also thought to provide some value as "brain training"). Participants who agree to enroll in the study will be randomized to one of two intervention arms: cognitive remediation (CR) or active control (AC). In the CR arm, participants will complete 20 hours of targeted cognitive training, in 30-min session, 5 days per week, over 8 weeks. The AC Arm will follow the same schedule, except that participants will complete video games (e.g., pong). All participants will repeat assessments at randomly determined midpoint, as well as after the 8 weeks of training have been completed.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
40
See Cognitive Remediation Arm description.
See Active Control Arm description.
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) Verbal Learning Subscale Scores
Change in MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) Verbal Learning Subscale. Demographically corrected T-scores (M = 50; SD = 10; higher better).
Time frame: Three time points (1 week pre-randomization, mid-treatment [randomly selected for each participant between the 2nd and 7th week of treatment], and 1 week post-treatment) for all participants.
Academic Performance
Academic performance will be evaluated using participant grade point average improvement over the course of the study.
Time frame: Semester data obtained yearly up to 8 years
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