Art of Memory for Cognitive Enhancement in the Monza Brain Health Service

Summary

The goal of this pilot interventional clinical trial (non-drug study) is to learn whether memory techniques (mnemonics) can improve cognitive performance in adults over 50 years old with subjective cognitive decline who are followed at the Brain Health Service of Monza. The study will also evaluate the feasibility of this intervention and explore which biological or clinical factors may influence its effects.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Do memory techniques improve overall cognitive performance, measured by a composite score from a neuropsychological test battery, after 6 months?
* Are any cognitive benefits maintained over time (up to 9 months)?
* Do biomarkers (such as blood p-tau217 levels, APOE genotype, or brain atrophy on MRI) influence the response to memory training?
* Do memory techniques improve subjective cognitive complaints and performance on sensitive memory and cognitive-motor tests?

Researchers will compare a memory training group to a control group receiving information only to see whether structured mnemonic training leads to greater improvement in cognitive outcomes.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the memory training group or the control group. Both groups will undergo complete cognitive assessments at baseline, 6 months, and 9 months.

If assigned to the training group, participants will attend two in-person group sessions to learn basic and advanced memory techniques, participate in two additional online group meetings, access online video materials, and practice memory exercises on a dedicated online platform for about 20 minutes per day.

If assigned to the control group, participants will receive general information about memory techniques but no structured training or platform access.

A total of 80 participants (40 per group) will be enrolled. This pilot study will help estimate the size of the effect and determine whether a larger future study is feasible.

Conditions

• Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD)
• Alzheimer's Disease
• Cognitive Enhancement

Interventions

OTHER

Art of memory classes

The intervention will consist of: * two in-person and two online group sessions to learn basic and advanced memory techniques, taught by experienced memory athletes (Vanni de Luca, Andrea Muzii and Alessandro de Concini) * dedicated online video materials * self-paced exercises on the memoryleague.com website for about 20 minutes per day

OTHER

General information on art of memory

The control group will receive general information about memory techniques but no structured training or platform access

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Center

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Milano Bicocca

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lucio Tremolizzo, MD, PhD · Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-11-24

Primary Completion

2026-06-01

Completion

2026-09-01

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations