Cognitive Reserve and Second Language Acquisition

Boosting Cognitive Reserve Through Adult Second Language Acquisition With Duolingo

Bilingualism has been shown to have a strong protective effect against dementia, delaying the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease by up to 4 years. The purpose of the study is to test whether learning a second language using Duolingo software could improve cognitive functions in older adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Executive Function
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Duolingo; Behavioral: BrainHQ; Behavioral: Passive Control

Detailed Description

This study is a 3-arm, randomized controlled trial. The primary objective of the study is to test the impact of second language acquisition through short-term use of the Duolingo app on cognitive functioning, particularly executive function in older adults compared to a brain training application.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 90
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6A 2E1
      • Recruiting
      • Baycrest Health Sciences

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 75 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants must have normal vision and hearing.
• Participants must be able to travel to Baycrest by personal or study-arranged automobile, or public transportation.
• Participants must be monolingual native English speakers.
• Participants must be willing to provide informed consent.
• Participants must have daily access to a smartphone/mobile device.
• Have not previously studied Spanish formally, nor any other language in the past 10 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have a neurological disorder.
• meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for Axis I mood, anxiety, or psychotic or substance abuse disorders.
• Fluent in more than one language.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Duolingo Spanish Course; 30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.	Behavioral: Duolingo; Will learn Spanish using the commercially available Duolingo application. It is a computerized language training program.
Active Comparator: BrainHQ; 30 minutes each day, 5 days a week for 16 weeks. Total of 40 hours.	Behavioral: BrainHQ; Will use the commercially available Posit Science product Brain HQ. Brain HQ is a computerized adaptive cognitive brain training program.
Placebo Comparator: Passive Control; No intervention.	Behavioral: Passive Control; No Intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in working memory, n-back	Working memory assessed by the n-back test	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Change in inhibitory Control, Simon task	Inhibitory control assessed by the Simon task	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Change in inhibitory Control, DKEFS	DKEFS Colour Word Interference	change from baseline to 16 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in attention abilities	Attention assessed by the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA)	change from baseline to 16 weeks
Change in language abilities	Winterlight designed battery assessing paragraph reading and recall, picture description and object naming.	change from baseline to 16 weeks
change in verbal fluency	semantic and phonological fluency tasks	change from baseline to 16 weeks
executive function assessed by trailmaking test	Trails B implemented on tablet	change from baseline to 16 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Spanish Proficiency (Duolingo group only)	WebCAPE Online Spanish Test	change from baseline to 16 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest
• Collaborators: University of Toronto

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): June 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): October 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 4, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 20, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 19, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 18, 2019
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: I2P2-2-00140

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No