Cognitive Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Cognitive Training in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Effects on Sleep, Cognition and Arousal

Older adults (60+ years of age) who meet criteria for mild cognitive impairment and insomnia will be randomly assigned to cognitive training or trivia training and will complete measures of anxiety, sleep, cognition (objective, self-efficacy), and arousal at baseline, and post-intervention. For cognitive training, participants will be provided with login information to access the computerized training, and will complete 8 weeks (45 mins 3x/week) of cognitive training. For trivia training, participants will receive weekly emails that contain trivia assignments that they will complete for 8 weeks (45 mins 3x/week). We will evaluate short-term (i.e., post-training) effects of the two training conditions on subjective anxiety, sleep, arousal, and subjective and objective cognition.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. 60+ yrs of age
2. meet criteria for mild cognitive impairment
3. no neurological or psychiatric illness or dementia
4. non-gamers (<2 hour of video/brain training games/week over last 2 yrs)
5. proficient in English (reading and writing)
6. meet clinical dx criteria for Insomnia (e.g., insomnia complaints for 6+ months, complaints occur despite adequate opportunity and circumstances for sleep, consist of one of the following: difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early, and daytime dysfunction due to insomnia)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. unable to provide informed consent
2. unable to undergo randomization
3. other sleep disorder (e.g., sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome)
4. severe untreated psychiatric comorbidity
5. psychotropic or other medications that alter sleep (unless stabilized for 6 months)
6. uncorrected visual/auditory impairments
7. participation in nonpharmacological tx for sleep/fatigue/mood/cognition outside the current study