Memory Improvement Through Nicotine Dosing (MIND) Study (MIND)

Long-Term Nicotine Treatment of Mild Cognitive Impairment

The purpose of the study is to see if daily transdermal nicotine is able to produce a significant cognitive, clinical and functional improvement in participants with MCI. Neuronal nicotinic receptors have long been known to play a critical role in memory function in preclinical studies, with nicotine improving attention, learning, and memory function.

The study will enroll 380 participants for a 2 year period. Participants will be randomized (50:50) to either the transdermal nicotine, beginning at 7mg/day, and increasing to 21mg/day, or placebo skin patch.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Placebo Patch; Drug: Nicotine Transdermal Patch

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 348
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 85254
      • Perseverance Research Center
  • Arkansas
    • North Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72205
      • Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System
  • California
    • Downey, California, United States, 90242
      • USC Rancho Los Amigos
    • San Diego, California, United States, 92123
      • Sharp Neurocognitive Research Center
    • Santa Ana, California, United States, 92705
      • Syrentis Clinical Research
  • Connecticut
    • Danbury, Connecticut, United States, 06810
      • Nuvance Health Medical Practice Ct, Inc.; Associated Neurologists, PC
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States, 200072145
      • Georgetown University
  • Florida
    • Atlantis, Florida, United States, 33462
      • JEM Research Institute
    • Delray Beach, Florida, United States, 33445
      • Brain Matters Research
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33137
      • Miami Jewish Health Systems
    • Stuart, Florida, United States, 34997
      • Brain Matters Research
  • Georgia
    • Augusta, Georgia, United States, 30912
      • Augusta University Movement and Memory Disorders
  • Idaho
    • Meridian, Idaho, United States, 83642
      • Velocity Clinical Research - Boise
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 606113010
      • Northwestern University
  • Iowa
    • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242
      • University of Iowa
  • Massachusetts
    • Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States, 02360
      • Headlands Eastern MA LLC
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14203
      • University at Buffalo (UBMD)
    • East Syracuse, New York, United States, 13057
      • Velocity Clinical Research - Syracuse
    • New York, New York, United States, 100166055
      • New York University Medical Center
    • New York, New York, United States, 100296552
      • Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    • New York, New York, United States, 11229
      • Integrative Clinical Trials
    • Syracuse, New York, United States, 13210
      • SUNY Upstate Medical University
  • North Carolina
    • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27157
      • Wake Forest University Health Sciences
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Ohio State University
  • Oklahoma
    • Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, 74104
      • Central States Research (formerly Tulsa Clinical Research)
  • Oregon
    • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97225
      • Providence Brain and Spine Institute
  • Pennsylvania
    • Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, 18105
      • LeHigh Valley Hospital
    • Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, 17033
      • Penn State Hershey Medical Center
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 294011113
      • Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System
  • Tennessee
    • Cordova, Tennessee, United States, 38018
      • Neurology Clinic, P.C.
    • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37212
      • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Texas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
      • Houston Methodist Neurological Institute
    • San Antonio, Texas, United States, 78229
      • Glenn Biggs Institute at the University of Texas Health
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98195
      • University of Washington Memory and Brain Wellness Center
    • Spokane, Washington, United States, 99202
      • Kingfisher Cooperative, LLC
  • Wisconsin
    • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53706
      • University of Wisconsin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Participant must have a subjective memory concern as reported by participant, study partner, or clinician

2. Abnormal memory function documented by scoring within the education adjusted ranges on the Logical Memory II subscale (Delayed Paragraph Recall) from the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised:

   • less than or equal to 11 for 16 or more years of education
   • less than or equal to 9 for 8 - 15 years of education
   • less than or equal to 6 for 0 - 7 years of education
3. Mini-Mental State Exam score between 24 and 30, inclusive
4. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) Global = 0.5. Memory Box score must be at least 0.5
5. General cognition and functional performance sufficiently preserved such that a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease dementia cannot be made by the site physician at the time of the screening visit
6. Age 55-90 (inclusive)

7. Stable permitted medications for 4 weeks or longer as specified in Section 6, including:

   • Memantine and cholinesterase inhibitors are allowable if stable for 12 weeks prior to screen

8. Geriatric Depression Scale score of less than or equal to 14
9. Study Partner is available who has frequent contact with the participant (e.g. an average of 10 hours per week or more), and can accompany the participant to most visits to answer questions about the participant
10. Adequate visual and auditory acuity to allow neuropsychological testing
11. Good general health with no additional diseases/disorders expected to interfere with the study
12. Participant is not pregnant, lactating, or of childbearing potential (i.e. women must be two years post-menopausal or surgically sterile)
13. Completed six grades of education or has a good work history
14. Fluent in English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Regular use of tobacco products within the past year, such as smoking (cigarettes, pipes, cigars, etc.) or use of other nicotine products (chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, nicotine patches, gum, sprays, etc.).
2. Any significant neurologic disease such as Alzheimer's disease dementia, Parkinson's disease, multi-infarct dementia, Huntington's disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, brain tumor, progressive supranuclear palsy, seizure disorder, subdural hematoma, multiple sclerosis, or history of significant head trauma followed by persistent neurologic deficits or known structural brain abnormalities.
3. Major depression, bipolar disorder as described in DSM-V within the past 1 year or psychotic features, agitation or behavioral problems within 3 months, which could lead to difficulty complying with the protocol
4. History of schizophrenia (DSM V criteria)
5. History of alcohol or substance abuse or dependence within the past 2 years (DSM V criteria)
6. Clinically significant or unstable medical condition, including uncontrolled hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes, or significant cardiac, pulmonary, renal, hepatic, endocrine, or other systemic disease in the opinion of the Investigator, may either put the participant at risk because of participation in the study, or influence the results, or the participant's ability to participate in the study.
7. Has had a history within the last 5 years of a primary or recurrent malignant disease with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancers, resected cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in situ, basal cell carcinoma, cervical carcinoma in situ, or in situ prostate cancer with normal prostate-specific antigen post-treatment
8. Clinically significant abnormalities in B12 or TFTs (Thyroid Function Tests) that might interfere with the study. A low B12 is exclusionary, unless the required follow-up labs (homocysteine (HC) and methylmalonic acid (MMA)) indicate that it is not physiologically significant.
9. Clinically significant abnormalities in screening laboratories or ECG.
10. Residence in skilled nursing facility.

11. Use of any excluded medication as described in the protocol, including:

    • Use of centrally acting anti-cholinergic drugs
    • Use of any investigational drugs within 30 days or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer, prior to screening.
12. For CSF sub-study participants, a current blood clotting or bleeding disorder, or significantly abnormal PT or PTT (partial thromboplastin time) at screening
13. For MRI sub-study participants, contraindications for MRI studies, including claustrophobia, the presence of metal (ferromagnetic) implants, or cardiac pacemaker.
14. Patients whom the Site PI deems to be otherwise ineligible.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Nicotine Transdermal Patch; Participants will wear nicotine transdermal patches during waking hours. Active dose will titrate up from 3.5mg to 21mg in the first 5 weeks of treatment, remain at 21mg up to 24 month, and then taper down for 3 weeks.	Drug: Nicotine Transdermal Patch; 21mg Nicotine transdermal patches worn during waking hours. Active dose will titrate up from 3.5mg to 21mg in the first 5 weeks of treatment, remain at 21mg up to month 24, and then taper down for three weeks.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Patch; Participants will wear matching placebo patches during waking hours.	Drug: Placebo Patch; Matching placebo patches worn during waking hours.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cogstate Battery International Shopping List Test - Total Immediate Recall (ISLT-TIR)	The ISLT - TIR represents the number of correct responses made when remembering the twelve word shopping list on three consecutive trials. The unit of the variable is correct responses count and higher score is better performance. Scores range from 0 to 36.	From Baseline to month 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline in Mild Cognitive Impairment - Clinical Global Impression of Change (MCI-CGIC) to Month 24	The MCI-CGIC is the MCI version of the clinician's global impression of change. In this trial it will measure change in the participant's condition between the baseline visit and subsequent visits.	From Baseline to month 24
International Shopping List Test - Delayed Recall (ISRL)	This battery will be used for the purpose of assessing the cognitive status of the participants and will assist in documenting multiple domains of cognitive impairment.	From Baseline to month 24
Identification Task	The IDN evaluates attention and is assessed in speed of performance. Lower score is better performance.	From Baseline to month 24
One Card Learning Task (OCL)	The OCL evaluates visual learning and is assessed in accuracy of performance; performance; arcsine square root proportion correct. Higher score is better performance. Ranges from 0 to 1.5708	From Baseline to month 24
Detection Task	The DET evaluates Psychomotor Function and is assessed in speed of performance; mean of the log10 transformed reaction times for correct responses. Lower score is better performance, ranges from 2.001 to 6.	From Baseline to month 24
One Back Task (ONB)	The ONB evaluates working memory and is assessed in speed of performance; mean of the log10 transformed reaction times for correct responses. Lower score is better performance, ranges from ranges from 2.001 to 6.	From Baseline to month 24
NYU Immediate Recall (NYU-Immediate)	The NYU-Immediate recall evaluates immediate verbal recall. Higher is better performance	From Baseline to month 24
NYU Delayed Recall (NYU-DELAY)	The NY-DELAY evaluates delayed verbal recall. Higher is better performance	From Baseline to month 24
Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) - Sum of Boxes (SOB)	The is a clinical scale that rates the severity of dementia as absent, questionable, mild, moderate, or severe.	From Baseline to month 24
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)	The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a 30-item self-report assessment used to identify depression in the elderly. The grid sets a range of 0-9 as "normal", 10-19 as "mildly depressed", and 20-30 as "severely depressed".	Month 24
Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study - Activities of Daily Living Inventory (ADCS-ADL)	This scale is an inventory developed to assess functional performance in participantss with Alzheimer's disease.	From Baseline to month 24

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Reaction Time - Standard Error (RT-SE) From the Connors Performance Test (CPT)	The Reaction Time - Standard Error (RT-SE) from the CPT, refers to a measure of the variability in an individual's reaction time (how quickly they respond to a target stimulus) during the test, essentially indicating how consistently fast or slow their responses are across the test trials; a higher RT-SE suggests greater inconsistency in reaction times.	From Baseline to month 24
Change From Baseline in the Left Hippocampal Volume to Month 24	Left hippocampal volume measures the size of the left side of the hippocampus. Normal adult volume averages roughly 2700 to 3000 mm³, though healthy sizes vary widely. It handles verbal memory, while shrinkage points to cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, or stress	From Baseline to month 24
Change From Baseline in the Right Hippocampal Volume to Month 24	The right hippocampal volume is the measured physical size (quantified via neuroimaging like Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of the Right Hippocampus, located deep within the brain's medial temporal lobe.	From Baseline to month 24

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA); Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute; Vanderbilt University
• Investigators: Study Director: Paul Aisen, MD, USC Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI); Study Director: Paul Newhouse, MD, Vanderbilt University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Newhouse PA, Potter A, Corwin J, Lenox R. Age-related effects of the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine on cognition and behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology. 1994 Apr;10(2):93-107. doi: 10.1038/npp.1994.11.
• Newhouse P, Kellar K, Aisen P, White H, Wesnes K, Coderre E, Pfaff A, Wilkins H, Howard D, Levin ED. Nicotine treatment of mild cognitive impairment: a 6-month double-blind pilot clinical trial. Neurology. 2012 Jan 10;78(2):91-101. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31823efcbb.
• Dumas J, Hancur-Bucci C, Naylor M, Sites C, Newhouse P. Estrogen treatment effects on anticholinergic-induced cognitive dysfunction in normal postmenopausal women. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2006 Sep;31(9):2065-78. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301042. Epub 2006 Feb 15.
• Newhouse PA, Dumas J, Hancur-Bucci C, Naylor M, Sites CK, Benkelfat C, Young SN. Estrogen administration negatively alters mood following monoaminergic depletion and psychosocial stress in postmenopausal women. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008 Jun;33(7):1514-27. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301530. Epub 2007 Aug 15.
• Newhouse PA, Sunderland T, Tariot PN, Blumhardt CL, Weingartner H, Mellow A, Murphy DL. Intravenous nicotine in Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1988;95(2):171-5. doi: 10.1007/BF00174504.
• Joe E, Ringman JM. Cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: clinical management and prevention. BMJ. 2019 Dec 6;367:l6217. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l6217.

Helpful Links

• Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI). ATRI is the Coordinating Center for the MIND study.
• MIND study public website

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 22, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 25, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): September 16, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 22, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 22, 2016
• First Posted (Estimated): March 25, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 17, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 16, 2026
• Last Verified: September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease; Nicotine; Transdermal Patch
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Dementia; Tauopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Cognitive Dysfunction; Alzheimer Disease; Therapeutics; Tobacco Use Cessation Devices
• Other Study ID Numbers: ATRI-002-NIC; R01AG047992 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); 131918 (Other Identifier: Food and Drug Administration (FDA))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No