Neural Correlates of Working Memory Training for HIV Patients

October 1, 2019 updated by: Linda Chang, M.D., University of Hawaii

Neural Correlates of Working Memory Training for HIV Patients: A Randomized Control Clinical Trial

Despite potent combination antiretroviral therapy, cognitive (memory and concentration) problems continue to occur in up to 50% of HIV-infected individuals, especially in older infected individuals, and those who abuse alcohol, marijuana or psychostimulants. Since no effective treatments are available to these individuals with cognitive problems, conservative estimates indicate that the cost of care for these patients could double in the next two decades. To address this urgent problem, this study will use a comprehensive approach (cognitive tests, functional MRI and several biomarkers) to evaluate whether a novel computer-based training program would improve the brain function, especially working memory and attention, in HIV-infected and infected individuals.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The Overall Goals are to perform a double blind placebo-controlled study using Cogmed™ to determine whether this adaptive WM training program will benefit HIV-infected individuals, and whether the investigators can identify individuals who might benefit most from the working memory (WM) training. Lastly, the investigators will explore how brain activation, neuroinflammation and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine levels might be related to WM function before and after the training.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
180

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21201
        • University of Maryland School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria for HIV-infected participants :

  1. Men or women of any ethnicity, ages>18 years and able to provide informed consent,
  2. HIV seropositive (with documentation from medical records),
  3. Stable on an antiretroviral regimen for 6 months or will remain without antiretroviral treatment during the duration of the study.

Inclusion Criteria for Seronegative (SN) healthy participants :

  1. Men or women of any ethnicity, ages > 18 years and able to give informed consent,
  2. Seronegative for HIV

Exclusion criteria :

  1. Confounding co-morbid psychiatric illness
  2. Confounding neurological disorders
  3. Abnormal screening laboratory tests (>2 SD) that might indicate a chronic medical condition (e.g. diabetes, severe cardiac, renal or liver disorders)
  4. Medications that might influence outcome measures
  5. Current or history of drug dependence within the past two years
  6. Positive urine toxicology screen
  7. Inability to read at an 8th grade level
  8. Other contraindications for MR studies

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: HIV Positive participants
Intervention; 90 HIV positive participants will be trained. Half the participants will have the Adaptive WM Cogmed training, and half will have the non-adaptive WM Cogmed training.
Other: Adaptive WM CogMed Training
12 different computerized visual and spatial Working Memory tasks will be presented at each sessoin. Each session will involve 8 of the 12 tasks, and each subject is required to complete 25 training sessions, 30-40 minutes per day, 4-5 days per week over a 5-8 week period (minimum 20 sessions). The tasks will become more difficult in an "adaptive" manner, which is hypothesized as optimal for learning and training effects.
Other: Nonadaptive WM CogMed Training
The same 12 computerized visual and spatial working memory tasks will be presented, but at a fixed ("non-adaptive") and low difficulty level. 5 sessions per week x 5 weeks fora total of 25 sessions (minimum 20 sessions).
Other: Seronegative particpiants
Intervention; 90 seronegative participants will be trained. Half the participants will have the Adaptive WM Cogmed training, and half will have the non-adaptive WM Cogmed training.
Other: Adaptive WM CogMed Training
12 different computerized visual and spatial Working Memory tasks will be presented at each sessoin. Each session will involve 8 of the 12 tasks, and each subject is required to complete 25 training sessions, 30-40 minutes per day, 4-5 days per week over a 5-8 week period (minimum 20 sessions). The tasks will become more difficult in an "adaptive" manner, which is hypothesized as optimal for learning and training effects.
Other: Nonadaptive WM CogMed Training
The same 12 computerized visual and spatial working memory tasks will be presented, but at a fixed ("non-adaptive") and low difficulty level. 5 sessions per week x 5 weeks fora total of 25 sessions (minimum 20 sessions).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in the Improvement Index on Cogmed™
Time Frame: 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
This is generated by the computer training program based on the trained tasks.
1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Changes in Performances on near transfer working memory tasks
Time Frame: 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Verbal working memory and spatial working memory tasks
1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Changes in Blood-Oxygenation Level-Dependent Functional MRI Measures
Time Frame: 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Brain activation during the performance of working memory and attention tasks
1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in cognitive performance based on LIM homeobox transcription factor 1 alpha (LMX1A) genotypes (AA vs. GA/GG)
Time Frame: Baseline, 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Performance and improvements on cognitive tests may vary at baseline and after training based on LMX1A genotypes
Baseline, 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Changes in Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (BRIEF-A)
Time Frame: 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Improvement on BRIEF-A, a self-reported evaluation of the person's executive function during their activities of daily living.
1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Changes in Blood-Oxygenation Level-Dependent Functional MRI Measures based on LMX1A genotypes
Time Frame: 1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion
Brain activation during working memory performance may vary at baseline, 1-month or 6-months based on the different LMX1A genotypes
1 month after training, and 6 month after training completion

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Hawaii

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
University of Maryland, Baltimore

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Linda Chang, MD, University of Maryland Baltimiore

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2020

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 5, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 10, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 11, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 2, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 1, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 4R01DA035659-04 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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