Evaluating Two Types of Cognitive Training in Veterans With Schizophrenia

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Schizophrenia
• Interventions: Behavioral: Cognitive Package (Cogpack); Behavioral: Commercial Computer Games (Sporcle); Behavioral: Brain Fitness Program (BFP)

• Registration Number: NCT01891721
• Lead Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development

Brief Summary

Cognitive dysfunction is a major contributor to the poor community outcome of individuals with schizophrenia. Developing more effective cognitive remediation interventions is imperative to improve the daily lives of affected subjects and reduce the disability of this illness. The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate two types of cognitive training approaches to determine which one is more beneficial for individuals with schizophrenia. This study also uses electrophysiological techniques to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in cognitive remediation. Findings from this study will provide information about how to design the most optimally efficient cognitive training intervention to improve the cognitive and social functioning of patients with severe mental illness.

Detailed Description

Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects both higher-level neurocognitive operations (e.g., verbal memory, executive functioning) and lower-level perceptual processes (e.g., auditory processing). These deficits contribute to the poor community outcome and severe functional disability seen in patients. Effectively treating the cognitive dysfunction associated with this illness is important to achieve improvements in daily functioning. Recent meta-analytic studies report that cognitive training in schizophrenia has a moderate effect-size impact on cognitive functioning and a lower impact on daily functioning. However, most training interventions for schizophrenia have only targeted higher-order cognitive processes. A few recent interventions have targeted basic perceptual processing and shown that auditory and visual perceptual abilities can be trained and improved in patients with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that basic perceptual processing may be an ideal target for intervention. At this point, it is still unclear whether a neuroplasticity-based, bottom-up intervention is more effective than an intervention that targets top-down functions like attention, working memory, and executive functioning.

This clinical trial will contrast a bottom-up intervention targeting basic auditory processes and a top-down intervention targeting higher-order cognitive functions, compared with a control condition, in Veterans with schizophrenia. These interventions will be assessed by their effects on representative measures from three outcome domains: 1) neurocognition, 2) electroencephalography (EEG), and 3) functional capacity. Participants will be randomly assigned to the bottom-up auditory training, top-down cognitive training, or control treatment (commercial computer games). All treatments will be administered three times a week (1 hour each) for 12 weeks. A comprehensive battery of cognitive, electrophysiological, and functional measures will be administered at baseline, 6 weeks, and at completion of treatment. The investigators will enroll 120 Veterans with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder across the 5 years of the study.

This study will determine which training approach leads to the largest magnitude of improvement in neurocognition, functional capacity, and neural functioning measured with EEG. Moreover, it will shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying the response to training. By determining whether it is more beneficial to treat lower-level perceptual processes or higher-level cognitive functions, the results of this project will inform future recovery-based cognitive remediation interventions for Veterans with schizophrenia.

Basic Information
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Recruitment & Eligibility
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Study & Design
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Trial Locations

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2013-06-25
• Study First Submitted QC: 2013-06-28
• Study First Posted: 2013-07-03
• Study Start: 2013-11-21
• Primary Completion: 2018-06-30
• Study Completion: 2018-06-30
• Status Verified: 2019-04
• Results First Submitted: 2019-04-04
• Results First Submitted QC: 2019-07-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-07-03
• Results First Posted: 2019-08-14
• Last Update Posted: 2019-08-14

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 105

Inclusion Criteria

• Veterans with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
• Between 25 and 65 years of age
• Estimated premorbid inteIligence quotient (IQ) > 70 (based on reading ability)
• Understand spoken English sufficiently to comprehend the consent form
• Clinically stable (i.e., no inpatient hospitalization in the 3 months, no changes in psychiatric medications in the 6 weeks, and no changes in housing in the 2 months, prior to enrollment)

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Exclusion Criteria

• Documented history of mental retardation or severe learning disability
• Clinically significant neurological disease as determined by medical history (e.g., epilepsy, stroke)
• History of serious head injury with loss of consciousness greater than 1 hour and concomitant neuropsychological sequelae
• Meeting DSM-IV criteria for drug or alcohol dependence during the 6 months, or abuse during the month preceding study enrollment

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Broad Cognitive Training - Cognitive Package (Cogpack)	Cognitive Package (Cogpack)	In each session, participants will work on a different subset of 4 to 6 Cogpack exercises. Duration of training is 1 hour per day, 3 days per week, for 12 weeks, for a total of 36 hours.
Control Treatment - Commercial Computer Games (Sporcle)	Commercial Computer Games (Sporcle)	In each session, participants will play between 8 and 16 games (1 to 15 min per game). Duration of training is 1 hour per day, 3 days per week, for 12 weeks, for a total of 36 hours.
Specific Perceptual Training - Brain Fitness Program (BFP)	Brain Fitness Program (BFP)	In each session, participants will work on 4 of the 6 BFP exercises (15 min per exercise). Duration of training is 1 hour per day, 3 days per week, for 12 weeks, for a total of 36 hours.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Neurocognition	Within one week of training completion	The Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used to assess basic cognition. It includes tests representing 6 separable cognitive domains. The MCCB composite score (average of 6 domain t-scores) served as the primary cognitive outcome measure. Minimum and maximum values are 20 and 68. Higher scores mean a better outcome.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Electroencephalography (EEG)	After 6 weeks of training and within one week of training completion	A Mismatch Negativity (MMN) Paradigm was used to assess basic auditory processing. MMN amplitude was measured as the mean voltage in the 145-200 ms latency range at pooled frontocentral electodes. Minimum and maximum values are -8 and +2 microvolts. More negative scores mean a better outcome.
Functional Capacity	Within one week of training completion	The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA) was used to assess functional capacity. The UPSA total score served as a secondary functional outcome measure. Minimum and maximum values are 40 and 100. Higher scores mean a better outcome.

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, West Los Angeles, CA; 🇺🇸 West Los Angeles, California, United States

Local Board and Care Facilities; 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, California, United States