A Neuroscience-Based Cognitive Intervention to Improve Brain Health in Older Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Abstract
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has been shown to increase individuals risk for developing Alzheimer s disease and Alzheimer s disease-related dementias, conditions characterized by deteriorating brain health and cognitive decline. TBI is especially common among military personnel, and older Veterans who suffered TBI earlier in their lives are more likely to develop dementia. There is, therefore, critical need to identify an intervention to enhance brain health among older Veterans with TBI in order to help protect the aging brain and prevent dementia. Moreover, to have wide impact, such an intervention must be highly scalable so that it can be easily accessible to the large population of at-risk Veterans. Previous research has suggested that cognitively stimulating activities can help promote brain health and prevent dementia in other older adult populations. Mobile technology may be an effective means to provide targeted cognitive stimulation in a highly scalable way. Our study will investigate whether a cognitive intervention video game for mobile tablet devices, called Project:Evolution (EVO), can improve brain health among older Veterans with TBI. Grounded in neuroscience research, EVO was developed based on a similar video game shown to improve cognition and brain function in healthy older adults. Ongoing research suggests EVO is a feasible intervention for older Veterans with TBI, and we plan to build on this work by using neuroimaging to evaluate whether and how EVO impacts brain health. We propose to conduct a pilot intervention study in which older Veterans with TBI will be randomly assigned to play either the intervention game or an active comparison game at home on a mobile tablet device. Individuals will complete neuroimaging and tests of cognitive function before and after playing their assigned game, and we will evaluate whether EVO leads to improvements in brain structure and brain function and whether intervention-related brain changes are associated with improved cognition. The proposed research will inform whether EVO should be deployed on a large scale as a mobile technology intervention for older Veterans with TBI in order to help protect the aging brain and promote resilience against dementia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1810286
Entities
People
- Allison Kaup
Organizations
- Northern California Institute for Research and Education
- United States Army