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AI chat could be a secret weapon against dementia in lonely seniors

NCT ID NCT07701668

Disease control Sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting This study
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 14, 2026 · Last updated Aug 26, 2026 · Updated 3 times

Summary

This study tests whether regular, one-on-one conversations with an AI can improve social confidence and engagement in adults aged 75 and older who have mild cognitive impairment and are socially isolated. Participants will have AI-led chats designed to stimulate thinking and social connection. The goal is to see if this approach can help slow cognitive decline and reduce dementia risk.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
AI-based conversational intervention
What this could lead to
If it works, this could offer a low-cost, scalable way to reduce dementia risk by keeping socially isolated older adults mentally and socially active.
What could go wrong
This is a small, early-stage trial (80 participants) testing a behavioral intervention, so results may not generalize. The AI conversations may not feel natural or engaging enough to produce lasting benefits.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 80 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Expected to start

Oct 2026

An estimate. Start dates often move.

Expected to finish

Sep 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

75 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Aged 75+ * Clinical diagnosis of MCI (any subtype) or, when a clinical diagnosis is unavailable, a Telephone-MoCA (T-MoCA) score of 15-17. * Identified as socially isolated, defined as meeting both of the following self-reported criteria: (a) lives alone in one's own residence, and (b) engages in conversations lasting 30 minutes or longer no more than twice per week. * GDS-15 (15-item Geriatric Depression Scale) at/below 9 (not severely depressed). * Social self-efficacy mean ≤ 8 (on the 0-10 scale) across the 6-item Social Self-Efficacy Scale at screening, indicating low confidence in social interaction. * Ability to understand the research consent form. * Ability to connect a tablet to the Internet. Exclusion Criteria: * Diagnosed with dementia such as AD, ischemic vascular dementia, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or Parkinson's disease. * Schizophrenia, or other major psychiatric disorder defined by DSM-IV criteria. * Medications: (a) Frequent use of high doses of analgesics; Use of sedative medications except for those used occasionally for sleep (≤2 per week); (b) Use of unstable dosing of Cholinesterase inhibitors (need to be stable dosing for 2 months); (c) AD disease modifying monoclonal antibody treatment e.g., aducanumab or lecanemab (completed the treatment is allowed)

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Cognitive Dysfunction Social Isolation dementia prevention target

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) Social isolation

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Massachusetts General Hospital

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02129, United States

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