The Effect of Respiratory Muscle Training on Cognitive Performance

June 4, 2026 updated by: Blair D. Johnson, PhD, Indiana University
Determine if exercise training for the respiratory muscles improves cognitive performance during periods when breathing against a resistance.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

32

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 Contact

  • Name: Blair Johnson
  • Phone Number: 812-855-8699
  • Email: bj33@iu.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Indiana
      • Bloomington, Indiana, United States, 47405
        • Recruiting
        • Indiana University
        • Contact:
          • Blair Johnson, PhD
          • Phone Number: 812-855-8699
          • Email: bj33@iu.edu
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Blair Johnson, PhD

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-40 years old
  • Body mass index <30 kg/m2
  • Naïve to IMT
  • >75% of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) / forced vital capacity (FVC) (FEV1/FVC)
  • Access to smart phone or tablet with internet

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed:

    • Cardiovascular disease
    • Respiratory disease (including asthma)
    • Metabolic disease
    • Currently pregnant
    • Unable to adhere to the IMT protocol
  • Answering 'yes' to any of the questions on page one of the PAR-Q+
  • Abnormal cognition assessed via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (score of 25 or less)
  • Self-reported color blindness
  • Significant acute or chronic medical, neurologic, or illness in the participant that, in the judgment of the Principal Investigator, could compromise subject safety, limit the ability of the participant to complete the study, and/or compromise the objectives of the study

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Active IMT
Inspiratory muscle training
Other: Inspiratory muscle training
8 weeks of active or sham inspiratory muscle training
Sham Comparator: Sham IMT
Sham inspiratory muscle training
Other: Inspiratory muscle training
8 weeks of active or sham inspiratory muscle training

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Diaphragm thickness
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks of training
ultrasound measurements of diaphragm thickness
Baseline and after 8 weeks of training
Cognitive performance
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks of training
CAAPES performance with the higher percentage correct corresponding to a better performance.
Baseline and after 8 weeks of training

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Dyspnea
Time Frame: Baseline and after 8 weeks of training
Measure of breathing discomfort and pleasantness using a visual analog scale, the higher the value the more discomfort and unpleasant the subject's breathing is.
Baseline and after 8 weeks of training

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Indiana University

Collaborators

United States Air Force Research Laboratory

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Blair Johnson, PhD, Indiana University

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)

March 27, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 28083

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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