Validation of a Remediation Method for Memory Impairments Through Motor Encoding in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease

Summary

In France, over 1.5 million people suffer from mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to Alzheimer's disease (AD), whose global prevalence could reach 153 million by 2050. With no curative treatment available, maintaining patients' autonomy at home is essential to mitigate the negative effects of institutionalization and reduce economic costs. Non-pharmacological approaches, such as cognitive training, have shown potential in stabilizing cognitive functions. Research suggests that motor networks and procedural memory remain relatively preserved in early AD, and bodily engagement during encoding enhances memory. For patients with motor impairments, motor imagery (MI) activates these networks without actual movement. Additionally, dynamic visual cues, like videos, reduce cognitive load compared to static images. This project aims to combine real action, MI, and dynamic visual supports to optimize memory. By validating 120 videos of daily activities, it will assess the impact of action on recall, evaluate MI's effectiveness for patients with mobility limitations, and confirm the superiority of videos over static images. The results could support the development of digital tools, such as serious games, to enhance patients' autonomy and address aging-related challenges.

Interventions

• Control condition · BEHAVIORAL

  Reading a sentence aloud and the participant is asked to freely recall, without delay and without cues, all the sentences presented in the block. The number of correctly recalled sentences is recorded.

• Motor mental imagery · BEHAVIORAL

  Following the reading of each sentence, the participant is instructed to mentally simulate performing the action described in the sentence. And the participant is asked to freely recall, without delay and without cues, all the sentences presented in the block. The number of correctly recalled sentences is recorded.

• Action execution · BEHAVIORAL

  After reading the sentence, the participant pantomimes the action described and The participant is asked to freely recall, without delay and without cues, all the sentences presented in the block. The number of correctly recalled sentences is recorded.

Published eligibility criteria

Verbatim from the registry. Only the site can decide how these apply to a specific patient.

Inclusion Criteria:

Patient group: Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease made by one of the consulting physicians-a neurologist and/or geriatrician (Dubois et al., 2014)-at the early stage, presenting with mild memory impairment of which the patient has been informed

\- MMSE score of 21 or higher

Control group: individuals without a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, but meeting the other criteria listed below

* Enrollment in a social security program
* Age 60 or older
* French as a native language
* Consent to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

* Uncorrected visual or hearing impairments
* Language or motor impairments
* Delirium or psychosis.
* Medical treatment affecting vision, language, or motor skills (or participation in a study involving a drug or device that influences cognition).
* Refusal to participate.
* Inability to communicate
* Persons deprived of liberty by a judicial or administrative decision and adults subject to a legal protection measure or unable to express their consent

Sites (3)

• Chu Grenoble, Grenoble, France · NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Chu de Saint Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France · RECRUITING
• HLC, Hôpital des Charpennes, Villeurbanne, France · NOT_YET_RECRUITING