Active clinical trials for "Cognitive Dysfunction"

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a physical activity-tracking smartphone app designed to facilitate physical activity in older adults with mild cognitive impairments or mild dementia. The app targets provides tips, messages, and strategies to overcome common barriers older adults face to being physically active. Participants will include older adults with memory or thinking problems or those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or mild forms of dementia who are smartphone users age 65 years or older and who are not meeting nationally recommended levels of physical activity. In the clinical trial phase of this study, 15 participant-study partner dyads will be oriented to the app and use it for a two-month period. Dyads will keep a diary to document their experiences and participants' activity patterns will also be tracked at the beginning and end of the study. After the two-month app trial is complete, dyads will return for a follow-up interview to discuss their experiences and provide suggestions for app improvements. Findings from this stage of the overall study will be combined with previous study phases to derive specifications for an optimized app for older people with mild cognitive impairments or mild dementia.

The objectives of this scientific expedition are: a/ Evaluation of temporal cognitive perception and collective synchronization in a temporally anomalous universe (underground environment), b/ Influence of group living on the endogenous circadian rhythmicity of the central biological clock and peripheral clocks in a "free-running" situation (absence of light/natural darkness), c/Evaluation of cognitive and physiological performance in response to exposure to an extreme environment in a natural underground cavity (cave) without access to a time indicator for 40 days, d/Correlation of cognitive, behavioral, psychological, social, neurophysiological and physiological parameters, e/ Determination of adaptation or maladaptation criteria (biological, genetic, physiological, neurophysiological, psychological and cognitive) in an isolation environment (underground) f/ Study of the evolution of collective organization, decision making and leadership in an extreme isolation and management situation.

The aims of this study are to (1) evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a home-based computerised cognitive training programme in the postoperative cardiac surgical population, and (2) estimate measures of precision about the mean and variance of cognitive outcome to inform sample size calculations for a subsequent efficacy study.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), also known as "chemobrain," is a spectrum of neurocognitive deficits experienced during and after the administration of chemotherapy for cancer. The incidence of CICI is significant, affecting anywhere from 25 to 75% of survivors, and the biologic basis is unknown. This novel study is designed to address the questions of incidence and biological cause for CICI, while gaining a better understanding of the structural and functional effects of chemotherapy on the brain.

Aging is often associated with pathological pathway such as in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), and that pathway may be associated to a high risk of dementia. Tools for early identification of functional and cognitive decline and effectiveness of treatments in counteracting the loss of functionality to preserve MCI subjects autonomy, have been widely debated in recent years. In literature, the importance of combined cognitive and physical training is also recognized (Karssemeijer E, 2017). Moving from the above mentioned findings and considerations, the aim of GOAL project is to test a newly developed tele-rehabilitation platform to monitor and preserve functional and cognitive abilities in individuals affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Participants will be enrolled and randomly assigned to the tele-rehabilitation (GOAL group) or usual care program (control group). A dedicated application will be developed for the GOAL group. Thanks to the application, the participant will access different contents, such as serious games to train cognitive abilities (Anguera et al,2013) and physical training video lessons to endorse daily activity. Each participant of GOAL group will be provided with a tablet, with the application installed on it, and an internet connection (if needed).

The project is designed to generate critical information to design and justify a robust trial on lithium prevention of the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lithium exerts and inhibitory effect on Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) a brain biomarker of neuroprotection. The study consists of 3 phases: Phase 1 investigates rats to establish a reliable method to measure brain biomarker activity levels from blood biomarker activity. Phase 2 will determine whether the GSK3 enzyme activity is significantly different in subjects with MCI compared to normal individuals. Phase 3 investigates patients with MCI taking lithium to establish the minimum lithium dose required to inhibit the activity of GSK-3.

As cancer mortality rates improve in Asia, there is an increasing focus on patient-reported outcomes and survivorship issues. In view of the numerous medication and psychosocial issues that are commonly faced by early-stage breast cancer survivors, it deems important to develop and conduct specific interventional programs to mitigate these problems. In the literature, it is well recognized that psychosocial interventions are effective to manage emotional distress and quality of life, with the evidence clearly clustered in studies on female patients with breast cancer. One meta-analysis suggested that psycho-oncologic interventions including individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, psychoeducation, relaxing training can produce positive effects on emotional distress, anxiety and depression, and health-related QOL. The investigators hypothesize that a significant reduction in anxiety, improvement of cognition and improvement of health-related quality of life among those who receive psycho-education, in comparison to those in the usual care. Hence, this randomized trial is designed to assess the effectiveness of a psycho-educational group (PEG) intervention on supportive care and survivorship issues, which include anxiety, depression, cognitive function, toxicities management of cancer- or treatment- related physical symptoms, and health-related quality of life in early-stage breast cancer patients.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is accompanied by gait and balance problems while dual tasking. During a 6 to 8 weeks training with the BioRescue (virtual reality), institutionalized elderly people with MCI will relearn dual tasks in combination with balance. Afterwards, the transferring effect on gait in general, balance and cognition will be examined.

The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation 1. on the noradrenergic system in the brain and 2. on memory, in healthy volunteers. Preclinical and clinical studies indicate that noradrenaline plays a role in the working mechanism of vagus nerve stimulation. This study will investigate if the effects of invasive vagus nerve stimulation can be replicated with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation. The release of noradrenaline in the brain will be measured non-invasively by the P300 component of event-related potentials in the electro-encephalogram (EEG) via an auditory oddball paradigm. Research to elucidate the working mechanism of non-invasive neurostimulation can help to identify subpopulations who will respond well to a treatment and can provide insights that could contribute to the optimalisation of the stimulation parameters, with as possible consequence a better clinical outcome. Some studies indicate that stimulation of the vagus nerve can optimally influence memory, possibly via the noradrenergic system. This study will investigate if the effects of invasive vagus nerve stimulation on memory can be replicated with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation. The influence of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on memory will be measured via a neuropsychological memory task that investigates the ability to focus attention. The correlation between the performance on the memory task and the signal analysis of the auditory oddball task could give an indication about the underlying working mechanism of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on memory. This will be the first step to investigate whether transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation can be used as innovative intervention for cognitive decline.

15 subjects conforming to inclusion and exclusion criteria with a known clinical diagnosis of MCI and who provide informed consent will undergo cognitive and functional assessment to confirm the diagnosis of MCI. Baseline assessment using the Mindstreams Mild Cognitive Impairment Computerized Assessment Battery will be performed. Subjects will then participate 30 twice weekly meetings of 90 minutes duration each (for a total of 15 weeks). Mindstreams testing will be repeated after 15 sessions and at completion of the study.