Remote cognitive-motor dual-task training and cognition in mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abstract The rising prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) demands effective early interventions to delay progression to dementia. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of remote cognitive-motor dual-task training on cognitive function and brain functional connectivity in older adults with MCI. Linear mixed-effects models (subjects as random effects; group, time, and their interaction as fixed effects) revealed significant Group × Time interactions for MoCA scores, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, and brain functional connectivity (FC) (all P  < 0.001), indicating that intervention effects differed across groups over time. Post-hoc comparisons showed that the Remote Cognitive-Motor Group (RCMG) achieved significant improvements in both MoCA and MMSE scores (both P  < 0.001), and these gains significantly exceeded those of the Control Group (CG) ( P  < 0.001). The Remote Cognitive Group (RCG) showed a significant improvement in MoCA ( P  < 0.001), whereas no significant improvement was observed in MMSE ( P  = 0.188). For brain FC, the RCMG showed significantly greater post-intervention enhancement than the CG ( P  < 0.001). Although the RCG showed a nominally significant interaction effect ( P  = 0.016), this did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons, and no significant difference was observed between RCMG and RCG. Region-of-interest (ROI) analyses revealed that the RCMG exhibited significantly enhanced FC between multiple prefrontal and motor-related regions, including the mPFC, DLPFC, and PMC ( P  < 0.05). Trial registration Study on rehabilitation training of cognitive-motor dual tasks for aging-related cognitive decline (ChiCTR2200064684) and the registration date was 10/14/2022.