Measuring cognitive deficit using cognitive tasks
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimisation of a single-session deployable subset of online cognitive tasks for detailed characterisation of common and distinct aspects of cognitive deficit in patients with Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder.
IRAS ID
304617
Contact name
Sukhi Shergill
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
To be confirmed once registered, The Open Science Framework [OSF.io]
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Executive function (a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control) and cognitive control (the process by which goals or plans influence behaviour) are terms used to describe cognitive processes that are vital for sustaining attention, monitoring information and selecting behaviours in order to attain a goal. We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage daily life.
Previous research has shown that these processes are commonly impaired in people who have a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders including schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. However, not much of this research has focussed on measuring the impairment in more than one disorder at any one time. Many disorders have overlapping symptoms and it is unclear to what extent these reflect impairments in processes which are present in more than one disorder, or if different processes are impaired in different disorders. In many of these patients, executive functions have been shown to be strong predictors of quality of life, daily functioning, and overall prognosis of their disease. They are, however, poorly treated by existing pharmacotherapies.
To help better understand these impairments, this study will look at the differences and similarities in these processes in people with and without Schizophrenia or Major Depressive Disorder. To do this, we have developed a set of 16 online cognitive tasks which assess the different cognitive processes. This study will help us to identify which of these cognitive tasks or combination of tasks could be used to measure the key aspects relevant to each disorder. We also hope to identify four tasks which can be adapted for use whilst a patient undergoes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), which will be carried out in a future study.
The study is funded by Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company, and will be run at a single centre in Denmark Hill, South London over approximately 1 year. We will recruit 75 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD), 50 with schizophrenia (SZ) and 50 age and gender matched healthy participants (HCs), who will complete the 16-task battery online at home. 25 participants from each group (a total of 75 participants) will be invited to the clinic so that we can compare the online tasks to tests which are commonly used in clinical practice to assess the same abilities. We will also see if the cognitive tests are reliable i.e. see if we get the same results when the tests are carried out by the same person at different times. This will be followed by a two-week period when the participants will repeatedly carry out the cognitive tasks at home to monitor their cognitive performance, complete a sleep diary and questionnaires and wear an activity tracking device.REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0069
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion