Cognitive Reserve and Second Language Acquisition

Executive Function Clinical Trial

Official title:

Boosting Cognitive Reserve Through Adult Second Language Acquisition With Duolingo

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03638882
• Other study ID #: I2P2-2-00140
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 1, 2018
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: September 2019
• Source: Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest
• Contact: Jed Meltzer, Ph.D.
• Phone: 416-785-2500
• Email: jmeltzer[@]research.baycrest.org
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Bilingualism has been shown to have a strong protective effect against dementia, delaying the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by up to 4 years. The purpose of the study is to test whether learning a second language using Duolingo software could improve cognitive functions in older adults.

Description:

This study is a 3-arm, randomized controlled trial. The primary objective of the study is to test the impact of second language acquisition through short-term use of the Duolingo app on cognitive functioning, particularly executive function in older adults compared to a brain training application.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 90
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: June 1, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 65 Years to 75 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must have normal vision and hearing.

• Participants must be able to travel to Baycrest by personal or study-arranged automobile, or public transportation.

• Participants must be monolingual native English speakers.

• Participants must be willing to provide informed consent.

• Participants must have daily access to a smartphone/mobile device.

• Have not previously studied Spanish formally, nor any other language in the past 10 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have a neurological disorder.

• meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for Axis I mood, anxiety, or psychotic or substance abuse disorders.

• Fluent in more than one language.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Executive Function

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Duolingo
Will learn Spanish using the commercially available Duolingo application. It is a computerized language training program.
• BrainHQ
Will use the commercially available Posit Science product Brain HQ. Brain HQ is a computerized adaptive cognitive brain training program.
• Passive Control
No Intervention.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Baycrest Health Sciences	Toronto	Ontario

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest	University of Toronto

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Spanish Proficiency (Duolingo group only)	WebCAPE Online Spanish Test	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Primary	Change in working memory, n-back	Working memory assessed by the n-back test	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Primary	Change in inhibitory Control, Simon task	Inhibitory control assessed by the Simon task	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Primary	Change in inhibitory Control, DKEFS	DKEFS Colour Word Interference	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Secondary	Change in attention abilities	Attention assessed by the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA)	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Secondary	Change in language abilities	Winterlight designed battery assessing paragraph reading and recall, picture description and object naming.	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Secondary	change in verbal fluency	semantic and phonological fluency tasks	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Secondary	executive function assessed by trailmaking test	Trails B implemented on tablet	change from baseline to 16 weeks