Enhancing Latent Cognitive Capacity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults With or At-Risk for Mild Cognitive Impairment（MCI): a RCT Study

This study is a 6-week training phase and 6-week maintenance phase randomized controlled trial, conducted at Xinzhuang Town, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.

All participants (control and intervention group) complete the data collection. Demographic data will be collected before intervention including age, sex, education, marriage, etc. A comprehensive cognitive assessment and MRI will be done before and 6 weeks, 12 weeks,3 months, 6 months, 12 months after the randomization respectively.

The intervention group receive four intervention components including cognitive training, physical exercise, healthy lifestyle intervention, and computerized cognitive training. a multimodal intervention program (with schedule) was conducted in the intervention group for 6-week training phase and 6-week maintenance, including cognitive training, physical exercise, healthy lifestyle education, and computerized interaction training. Throughout the 12-week period, the control group only received 30-minute health education through booklets, home visits, or phone calls once every week. The multimodal intervention program included the in-person training course (90-minute, once per week for 6 weeks), computerized interaction training (30-minute, 3 times per week for 6 weeks), and homework (30-minute, every day for 12 weeks).

The in-person training course started with a 10-minute period of reminiscence and discussion. Subsequently, cognitive training activities were conducted for 25 minutes, followed by a 15-minute healthy lifestyle education. After a 10-minute break, physical exercise training was administered for 15 minutes. Finally, participants summarized the all-training activities, either through writing or discussion, and planed their homework during a 15-minute wrap-up session.

The cognitive training encompassed memory-related training (i.e. picture recall, categorization, cueing, repetition, association, sentence formation, story construction, utilization of the Roman room method, face-name association, and verbalization to aid retention) and attention-related training (i.e. character-picture association, idiom-picture association, and spot-the-difference tasks were incorporated). The physical exercise included finger exercises, elastic band exercises, Tai Chi/ Baduanjin with guidance. The healthy lifestyle education included guidance on nutrition, sleep, stress management, and mood adjustment by teaching problem-solving skills, such as managing stressful life events and handling anger and frustration. Additionally, the intervention provided information and support to facilitate lifestyle changes and included discussions and practical exercises, such as tools for assessing dietary behavior.