Testing the Efficacy of Self-Generation Treatment Protocol

January 9, 2014 updated by: Yael Goverover, Kessler Foundation

Exploring the Effects of a Memory Intervention on Memory and Everyday Life Activities With Persons With MS

Past research has shown that items self-generated by an individual, such as words or concepts, are remembered better than items that are simply read or heard. The current study seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of using the principles of the generation effect in a treatment intervention to improve memory and functional performance in individuals with Multiple Sclerosis who have learning and memory difficulties.The main purpose of the study is to conduct an experimental investigation on the effects of a self-generation strategy treatment, embedded within practice of various activities ranging from laboratory tasks (e.g. words and concepts) to functional tasks (e.g. activities of daily living). The treatment to be tested is geared toward helping patients selfdiscover their own strengths and abilities while using self-generation to be able to utilize it independently in everyday life situations.

Design: The proposed pilot study is a randomized clinical trial. Participants: Participants will include forty (40) persons with MS, between the ages of 18 and 65, who demonstrate memory impairments. Half of the participants will receive the self-generation training while learning different types of tasks (experimental group) and half of the participants (control group) will be asked to learn the same information but will receive a conventional practice (e.g. repetitions).

Expected results: We expect that participants undergoing the self-generation-training intervention will show better memory performance, functional performance, quality of life, and satisfaction with treatment and life compared to participants in the control condition.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

If self- generation can be successfully adapted and applied to a treatment program for individuals with MS, it has the potential to improve their rehabilitation and treatment by facilitating new learning and memory. In addition, if treatment and rehabilitation are successful and productive, it is expected that the application of self-generation strategy to improve learning/ relearning will help to improve the ability of individuals with MS to maintain their current lifestyles at home, work, and within the community. We expect that persons with MS who complete the proposed treatment will acquire the trained strategy, recognize the everyday situations in which the trained strategy could be applied and then map and adapt the trained strategy to real-world situations.

Fourty participants with clinically definite MS and objectively documented impairment in verbal new learning will be included in the study. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the treatment group (n=20) or the control group (n=20). Participants will be enrolled only following an informed consent procedure, with the expectation of being able to participate for the full duration of the study (6 treatment sessions and two assessment sessions). All participants enrolled in the study will undergo pre and post treatment assessment to assess their levels of cognitive, emotional, and functional performance. Treatment for both experimental and control groups will consist of 6 individualized treatment sessions, 2 x per week for 3 weeks. Each session will last for approximately 45 minutes, and will include various memory tasks that will range from learning list of words to learning tasks related to everyday life. Participants in the control group will only be asked to perform the same memory tasks as the treatment group. The treatment for the experimental group will couple self-generated learning with awareness-training techniques, which are geared toward helping patients self-discover their performance strengths and limitations through integration of direct and personal experiences. Personal experience will be gained by practicing various memory tasks using self-generation strategy. This proposed self-generation program is expected to increase memory, task specific awareness and functional performance; ultimately improving quality of life and self-regulation.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

40

Phase

  • 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
    • New Jersey
      • West Orange, New Jersey, United States, 07052
        • Kessler Foundation

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of Multiple sclerosis

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of other neurological conditions

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
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-generation treatment
self-generation strategy treatment, embedded within practice of various activities
Behavioral: Self-generation treatment
self-generation treatment is a cognitive rehabilitation strategy aimed to improve memory. The self-generation strategy treatment, embedded within practice of various activities will consists of six individualized intervention sessions administered over 2-3 weeks
Placebo Comparator: memory training
Treatment consists on traditional memory training

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Neuropsychological Assessment
Time Frame: Baseline assessment, and Week 3
Baseline assessment, and Week 3

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Assessment of Global Functioning
Time Frame: Baseline and Week 3
Baseline and Week 3

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Kessler Foundation

Collaborators

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: John DeLuca, PhD, Kessler Foundation
  • Principal Investigator: Yael Goverover, PhD, Kessler Foundation

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

January 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2014

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 19, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 9, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

January 10, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 10, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 9, 2014

Last Verified

January 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 698-11 GE

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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