# Training Foundational Skills to Enhance Cognition in Older Adults

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $141,521

## Abstract

By 2030, older adults will outnumber children with 25% of the population of the United States age 65 or older.
There are major concerns about the impact on public health systems from increased care for those with declining
medical and mental health. An equally important and growing concern is for quality of life in the majority of older
adults who are aging typically but experiencing decline in cognitive function. Cognitive decline can begin in
middle age and increase throughout the lifespan affecting many aspects of daily function. One of the more
common current approaches to enhancing cognitive performance is use of video-games. There is evidence that
action video games can improve selective attention generally and some non-action adaptive games have been
shown to improve selective attention, processing speed and working memory. There are important advantages
of game-based cognitive training including the ease of use at home which also provides for extended distributed
practice and generally high engagement and motivation if the games are entertaining. Many current interventions
successfully affect behavior in the specific domain targeted, but have demonstrated little far transfer to function
outside the trained domain. We propose a project that uses video-games for cognitive enhancement that differ
critically from those currently in use. Our training games use gaze to train attention which forces a constant level
of engagement. Additionally, these games target specific attentional skills that are affected in typical aging
(distraction and response inhibition). Evidence that interference from distraction affects executive and memory
function as well as practical function such as driving safety suggests that if these games effectively improve
response to distraction, this training may show far transfer effects to daily function. These games have been
used successfully to train impaired attention including resistance to distraction in teens and young adults with
developmental disorders and we expect that with some optimization they will be equally effective in use with
older adults. We propose to use the 2-year planning period to conduct a clinical trial that aims: to identify and
address any modifications of the games required for adaptation to diminished sensory abilities in older adults; to
optimize training dosage and test timing of retention of effects; and to test and refine the battery of outcome
assessments. A subsequent large sample randomized control trial of healthy adults aged 60-80 would employ:
an active control group; an exploratory sub-sample of older adults with mild cognitive impairment; 4 levels of
outcome assessment (primary measures of attention; EEG, FMRI, DTI biomarkers of change; assessment of
cognitive function; assessment of practical function and perception of self-efficacy); and a long-term follow-up to
assess risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Our cross-disciplinary leadership team represents expertise
in agin...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10004485
- **Project number:** 3U01AG062371-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** JEANNE TOWNSEND
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $141,521
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10004485

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10004485, Training Foundational Skills to Enhance Cognition in Older Adults (3U01AG062371-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10004485. Licensed CC0.

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