# Improving Cognition Through Telehealth Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Training After a First Schizophrenia Episode

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $1,262,835

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 This R01 confirmatory efficacy clinical trial application involves telehealth delivery of a treatment
approach to improving core cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, using an experimental therapeutic design that
NIMH has advocated. Our telehealth intervention approach combines neurotrophin-releasing aerobic exercise
training with neuroplasticity-based cognitive training to enhance the impact of cognitive training on cognition.
Telehealth cognitive training and telehealth physical exercise training address the NIMH strategic research
priorities for creating innovative interventions that can be “disseminated broadly” and “readily taught to the
existing workforce with minimal cost.” Cognitive training and physical exercise have each been shown
separately to improve cognitive deficits in schizophrenia to some degree, and our previous research has
shown that when combined they show promise of improving cognition and work/school functioning more than
either treatment alone. In our preliminary studies, comparing the combined treatment with cognitive training
without aerobic exercise, we find evidence of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) target engagement,
differential improvement in cognition, and prediction of later cognitive outcome from initial BDNF gain. The
portability of the proposed intervention outside of academic research programs will be demonstrated by
providing the interventions via videoconferencing. The proposed study will incorporate additional methods,
such as Fitbit wrist-worn fitness trackers, web-based motivational support, and personalized text messages to
encourage motivation and to maximize participation in the exercise condition. We will use Mature BDNF as
our primary target and cognition as our primary outcome. We hypothesize that the increases in Mature BDNF
associated with regular aerobic exercise provide a platform which allows neuroplasticity-based cognitive
training to enhance cognition more quickly than is typically observed in studies of cognitive training alone. We
hypothesize that combining aerobic exercise with cognitive training will produce larger cognitive improvements,
relative to cognitive training without exercise, with all interventions conducted remotely via videoconferencing.
Further, we hypothesize that a greater proportion of exercise sessions completed will be associated with
greater cognitive improvement. The research will also test whether intrinsic motivation at baseline and
increases in intrinsic motivation over time predict the extent of participation in the telehealth physical exercise
program. Cognitive deficits in persons with schizophrenia are a major influence on their everyday functioning in
the community. We target the period shortly after a first episode of schizophrenia to maximize the
generalization of cognitive improvement to real-world functional outcome, before chronic disability is
established. This telehealth cognitive training plus aerobic exercise clinical trial has the...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10834241
- **Project number:** 5R01MH130848-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** KEITH H NUECHTERLEIN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,262,835
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10834241

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10834241, Improving Cognition Through Telehealth Aerobic Exercise and Cognitive Training After a First Schizophrenia Episode (5R01MH130848-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10834241. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*