Cognitive Training for Older Caregivers

Inclusion Criteria:

- English-speaking (consent process and assessments will be conducted in English only)

- Currently living with, and the primary caregiver for, a spouse with dementia—for the
purposes of this study, "spouse" may also include couples who had divorced or were
legally separated from each other, or who had never married each other but were in
established relationships ('significant others').

- Currently experiencing moderate to high levels of perceived stress and caregiver
burden. Spousal caregivers will be screened for stress levels and caregiving burden
using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10) and the Modified Caregiver Strain
Index (MCSI), respectively. Caregivers scoring above the population mean (approx.) on
the PSS 10 (> 11), reporting at least moderate caregiver strain (score > 5) on the
MCSI will be eligible for participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

- cognitive impairment or dementia (identified by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment
(MoCA) score < 24)

- current major depression (current Major Depression diagnosis and/or Geriatric
Depression Scale (GDS 15) score > 10)

- no recent (within 2 months) major surgery

- History of events that cause neurological injury (e.g., stroke, transient ischemic
attack, traumatic brain injury or head injury with loss of consciousness)

- Serious psychiatric or alcohol/substance use disorders, including current alcohol
dependence, current non-alcohol psychoactive substance use dependence, psychotic
disorders or features (current and lifetime), bipolar disorder (determined from Mini
International Neuropsychiatric Exam (MINI) modules)

- Autoimmune disorder (e.g., Crohn's disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis)

- Active neoplastic disease or receiving immunosuppressive therapy for cancer (or < 6
months post-chemo or radiation) or other diseases (< 3 months prior to enrollment)

- No significant immunodeficiency disorder (e.g., alymphocytosis, hepatitis B or C, HIV)

- Serious cardiovascular disease (e.g., congestive heart failure, pacemaker) or
myocardial infarction within past 6 months

- Physical condition precluding required activities as part of the computerized
cognitive training (e.g., inability to use a computer mouse; inadequate visual acuity)