Music and word games tested as memory boosters for seniors
NCT ID NCT06918704
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether using a music-based rhythm training app or a word search app for up to 8 weeks can improve working memory and focus in older adults. Participants, including those with mild cognitive impairment, will complete cognitive tests before, after, and 6 months later. The goal is to see if these digital tools offer a simple, at-home way to support brain health.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Coherence (music-based rhythm training app) and Worder (word search app)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a simple, at-home digital tool to help older adults maintain memory and attention.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage study with only 150 participants, and the interventions are behavioral apps, not drugs. Results may be modest or not apply to everyone.
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
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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
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About 150 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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
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60 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide 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: * Minimum of 12 years of education * English fluency * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision * Normal or corrected-to-normal vision * Medically healthy older adults including those with below-average cognitive performance or mild cognitive impairment patients without dementia Exclusion Criteria: * Under the age of 60 * Clinical diagnosis of neurological or psychiatric disorder * Visually or hearing impaired without correction to normal * Clinical diagnosis of dementia or AD8 score of \>3 * Regularly (one or more times per week) practicing an instrument within the last year * 10 or more years of formal musical instrument training
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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
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University of California, San Francisco
RECRUITINGSan Francisco, California, 94621, United States
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