Eye-tracking Training for Older Adults

July 2, 2026 updated by: Professor Chan Sui-yin Agnes, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Eye Tracking as an Early Cognitive Intervention for Older Adults With Subjective Memory Complaints

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a computerized eye-tracking training program can improve mental health and thinking skills in older adults. The main questions it aims to answer are whether eye-tracking training can lower depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults, and whether it can improve their ability to control impulses and pay attention.

Researchers will compare older adults who receive eye-tracking training to older adults on a waitlist to see if eye-tracking training leads to greater improvements in mood and thinking skills.

Researchers will randomly assign participants into the experimental group or the waitlist control group. Participants in the experimental group will take part in eye-tracking training three times a week for 18 sessions, over about 1.5 months. Before and after training, participants will answer questions about their mood and take tests of memory, attention, and impulse control. Older adults on the waitlist will complete the same tests but will not receive training until after the study period; they will be offered the same training once their waiting period ends.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

78

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

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 0000
        • Research Center for Neuropsychological Well-being
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • International Women's League Neighbourhood Elderly Centre

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
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged 60 to 80 years
  • Able to understand Cantonese/Chinese
  • Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
  • Willing and able to commit to attending 18 training sessions over the course of the intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A history of learning disability, psychiatric disorders, neurological disorders (e.g., head injury or Parkinson's disease), visual and/or hearing impairments, or any other physical disabilities that would affect their performance on neuropsychological assessment or adherence to the intervention
  • Prior or concurrent participation in other interventions involving eye-tracking techniques
  • Signs of dementia, as indicated by a total score of 18 or below on the Hong Kong version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA)
  • Inability to commit to the full course of 18 training sessions

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Eye-Tracking Training
Participants receive computerized eye-tracking training for 18 one-hour sessions, three times weekly, over approximately 6 weeks.
Behavioral: Eye-Tracking Training
The intervention is a copyrighted computerized training program using a non-contact eye tracker. Participants are required to fixate on or trace visual targets across six modules of increasing difficulty to improve attention and inhibitory control.
No Intervention: Waitlist control
Participants in this group do not receive eye-tracking training during the study period and complete the same baseline and post-assessment schedule as the experimental group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Inhibitory control
Time Frame: Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Inhibitory Control Index (ICI) in the Eriksen Flanker Test
Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Sustained attention
Time Frame: Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Digit Cancellation Index (DCI) in the Digit Cancellation Test
Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Depressive symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Depressive symptoms are assessed using the 15-item Chinese version of Geriatric Depressive Scale (CGDS-15). It is a 15-item self-report scale in which participants answer "Yes" or "No" to whether they experienced each of 15 common depressive symptoms in the past week. Scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. A score of 8 or higher indicates clinically significant depressive symptoms.
Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Anxiety symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)
Anxiety symptoms are assessed using the 10-item Chinese version of Geriatric Anxiety Scale (CGAS-10). It is a 10-item self-report measure of anxiety symptoms in older adults. Higher scores indicate greater severity of anxiety symptoms.
Baseline and after completion of 18 training sessions (approximately 9 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

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 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 29, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

February 29, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 2, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 2, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2022.625

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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