Overview
Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is considered a preclinical condition associated with an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Effective early behavioral interventions remain limited, and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive training effects are not fully understood, particularly in culturally specific educational contexts.
This randomized, assessor-blinded, controlled clinical trial will enroll 60 individuals with SCD to evaluate the effects of a six-month structured Chinese Classics recitation training program. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a non-active control group. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and during annual follow-up.
Multimodal evaluations will include neuropsychological testing, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), blood biomarker profiling, gut microbiota analysis, and fecal metabolomics. The study aims to examine clinical outcomes and explore potential neurobiological and systemic correlates associated with culturally adapted cognitive training.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age ≥ 60 years old
- At least two "yes" responses to the following questions are required:
- Forgetting where things are placed?
- Unable to recall the names of good friends?
- Unable to follow and recall conversation?
- Subjective memory problems?
- Consider own memory to be worse than others of a similar age?
Exclusion Criteria:
- Objective cognitive impairment defined as ≥ 1.5 standard deviations below standardized cognitive testing (e.g., MMSE)
- Diagnosis of MCI
- Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) ≥ 0.5
- Diagnosis of major depressive disorder
- Beck Anxiety Inventory score ≥ 16
- Other medical or neurological conditions that could explain cognitive decline (e.g., vascular dementia, traumatic brain injury)
- Claustrophobia
- Contraindications of MRI (e.g., non-MRI-compatible cardiac pacemaker or devices implanted within the past three months)
