Language training to boost cognitive health in older adults.
A Language-Based Training Intervention to Enhance Cognitive Health in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
This 12-week program sees if small-group language prediction exercises can improve thinking, speech, and daily function in healthy adults aged 65 and older.
Quick facts
| Phase | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Study type | Interventional |
| Enrollment | 120 (estimated) |
| Ages | 60 Years and up |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | National Taiwan University Hospital Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Taipei) |
| Trial ID | NCT07132281 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this trial studies
The trial enrolls about 90 community-dwelling adults and randomly assigns them in equal blocks to one of three arms: an active language-prediction group, a passive reading group, or a board-game control group. Over 12 weeks participants attend weekly two-hour small-group workshops that combine reading aloud, listening, oral summarizing, writing, and guided discussion designed to elicit continual prediction, self-monitoring, feedback, and revision. Before and after the course researchers collect behavioral measures (verbal fluency, language memory, sentence-prediction accuracy), electrophysiology (EEG signatures such as the N400), task-based fMRI, and AI-driven speech–language analytics to quantify cognitive, emotional, and daily-function transfer effects. The design tests whether explicitly training predictive language processes produces larger and broader benefits than passive reading or non-language cognitive activity.
Who should consider this trial
Good fit: Healthy, native Mandarin-speaking, right-handed community-dwelling adults aged 65 or older with at least junior-high education and a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score ≥23 who can attend weekly sessions are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People with Mild Cognitive Impairment or dementia, severe depression or other major psychiatric/neurological disorders, dyslexia or other language disorders, recent participation in another cognitive-intervention program, or inability to attend the required sessions are unlikely to benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could improve language-based thinking, everyday communication, and related cognitive functions in older adults, potentially delaying age-related decline.
How similar studies have performed: Prior cognitive and language-training programs have shown mixed but promising effects on verbal fluency and related measures, while interventions explicitly based on predictive-coding and active-inference in language remain relatively novel and less tested.
Eligibility criteria
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Aged between 20 and 30 (healthy young adults) or aged 65 and above (healthy older adults). * Native Mandarin Chinese speakers who had no exposure to non-indigenous languages before the age of five. * Have completed at least a junior high school level of education. * Right-handed. * Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision (e.g., through glasses or contact lenses). * Able to fully participate in the entire assessment and intervention schedule (with no more than two missed intervention sessions). * Achieve a score of 23 or higher on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Exclusion Criteria: * Participation in another cognitive intervention program within the past two months. * Cognitive intervention is not feasible due to dyslexia or physical illness. Meet the diagnostic criteria for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. * Presence of severe depression, or cognitive changes caused by other psychiatric, neurological disorders, or substance abuse, with symptoms that are unstable or interfere with functioning. * History of brain injury or neurological conditions (e.g., stroke, aneurysm). * Contraindications for MRI scanning, such as metal implants, pacemakers, or pregnancy. * Claustrophobia (an anxiety disorder characterized by panic symptoms or fear of panic attacks in enclosed spaces such as elevators, vehicles, tunnels, or airplane cabins). * Unable to undergo cognitive assessments due to visual or hearing impairments.
Where this trial is running
Taipei
- National Taiwan University — Taipei, Taiwan (Recruiting)
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Chia-Lin Lee, Ph.D.
- Email: Chialinlee@ntu.edu.tw
- Phone: 886-921-364-008
How to participate
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
- Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.