Cognitive PerformanceREACTNCT03771716
Rhythm Experience and Africana Culture Trial
A study testing African Dance and African Cultural Immersion in people with Cognitive Performance and Brain Structure, run by University of Pittsburgh at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
REACT is a randomized intervention to examine the benefits of African Dance as a method to increase physical activity behaviors in older adults. In this 6- month intervention, older African Americans will be randomly assigned to either an African Dance or an Africana Culture class. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 60 to 80 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Cognitive Performance, Brain Structure
- What is being tested?
- African Dance and African Cultural Immersion
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 151 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 21 May 2019to 16 Aug 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 60 to 80 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- self identifies race as African American
- between 60 and 80 years of age
- ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
- no history of falls or balance problems
- able to speak and read English
- available during the times classes are offered and able to make at least 80% of classes (e.g., no long-term travel plans)
Show all 11Show fewer
- reliable means of transportation
- scores above the range on the Brief Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) indicative of moderate to severe cognitive impairment (scores 21 or above)
- no diagnosis of a neurological disease or psychiatric conditions
- eligible to undergo MRI (not claustrophobic and no metal or history of injury involving metal).
- Fully vaccinated for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Who cannot join
- self identifies race as other than African American
- not between 60 and 80 years of age
- not ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
- history of falls or balance problems
- unable to speak and read English
- unavailable during the times classes are offered or unable to make at least 80% of classes (e.g., indicates long-term travel plans during intervention period)
Show all 10Show fewer
- no reliable means of transportation
- scores in range on the TICS indicative of moderate to severe cognitive impairment (scores 21 or below)
- has a diagnosis of a neurological disease or psychiatric condition
- ineligible to undergo MRI (claustrophobic and/or metal in body or history of injury involving metal).
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260
About this study
Official title: Rhythm Experience and Africana Culture Trial II
REACT is a randomized intervention to examine the benefits of African Dance as a method to increase physical activity behaviors in older adults. In this 6- month intervention, older African Americans will be randomly assigned to either an African Dance or an Africana Culture class. Both before and at the completion of the intervention, the investigators will collect a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and MRI scans of brain health and function to better study how physical activity influences neurocognitive health in African Americans.
Read the detailed description
Aim 1: Examine whether the African Dance intervention improves cognitive performance compared to an educational control group. H1: The dance group will show cognitive improvements in a domain-specific fashion such that executive and memory functions will be enhanced more than other cognitive domains; Aim 2. Examine whether African Dance influences brain morphology, task-evoked neural responses, cerebral blood flow, and resting state connectivity. H1: It is predicted that African Dance will increase volume, white matter integrity, perfusion, and functional activation/connectivity in a regionally-specific fashion such that prefrontal and hippocampal areas will be more sensitive to the intervention than other brain regions. Aim 3. Explore potential physiological and socio-emotional mechanisms of the dance intervention. The investigators will collect measures of physical and psychosocial health such as waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid levels, mood, anxiety, depression, and loneliness and examine whether intervention-related changes to these measures mediate improvements in cognitive performance.
- Conditions
- Cognitive Performance, Brain Structure
- Being tested
- African Dance, African Cultural Immersion
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
African DanceBehavioural
Also called Dance Group
Basic principles and guidelines for exercise programming will be followed including adequate warm-up and cool-down, progressive and gradual increments in duration, and instruction regarding avoidance of physical activity (PA) related injury. The African dance group will receive moderate intensity dance 1 hour per day, twice per week, for 6 months. The prescribed intensity will begin at light to moderate and progress to a moderate to high intensity level. Frequent assessment of heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion will ensure appropriate levels of intensity during each dance session. Levels of exertion during the dance will be prescribed and monitored based on baseline assessments of heart rate and cardiorespiratory fitness.
African Cultural ImmersionBehavioural
Also called Culture Group
The Culture group will participate in activities, including cooking, art and games, music, traditional crafts, and lectures and discussions about other aspects of Africana culture and customs. Topics will vary from session to session to maintain interest and engagement. The sessions will be held in a small group format and will be lead my personnel with training in each topic. Participants will meet 1 hour per day, 3 times per week, for 6 months.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| African Dance | Experimental | This is the experimental group. Dance classes will be held 3 times per week for 1 hour. Participants will learn traditional Africana dance moves and sequences. Receives: Behavioral: African Dance |
| African Cultural Immersion | Active comparator | This is the active control group. Participants will participate in a variety of educational activities related to African Culture, including traditional cooking, lectures, crafts, music and films. They will meet 3 times per week for the same duration as the Dance group. However, they will not participate in aerobic activity during the classes, and most activities will be conducted in a seated position. Receives: Behavioral: African Cultural Immersion |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Flanker Performance
A Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention task will be administered at baseline, and then following the intervention (6 months). The main outcome from this task is the computed score from the NIH Toolbox, which reflects the participant's ability to inhibit responses to irrelevant information while focusing attention on a target stimulus. In each trial, participants make a directional response to a center arrow when the flanking arrows are arranged in congruent vs. incongruent direction from the center stimulus. The computed score combines accuracy and reaction time into a single performance metric, ranging from 0 to 10, with higher values indicating better performance. Group differences will be tested on this outcome.
Measured: Changes from baseline to 6-months
Secondary outcomes (1)
Hippocampal Volume (mm3)
Structural scans will be collected at baseline as well as following the intervention. Hippocampal volume will be calculated in mm3. The investigators will examine group differences in size of the hippocampus following the intervention.
Measured: Changes from baseline to 6-months
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 Dec 2018
- Study start21 May 2019
- Primary completion25 Jul 2024
- Study completion16 Aug 2024
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for Cognitive PerformanceStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of PittsburghThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- 180 African American older adults between the ages of 60-80 will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: African Dance or Africana Culture. Both groups will meet 3 times per week for 1 hour over a period of 6-months. Cognitive and brain metrics will be assessed at baseline and following the completion of the intervention.
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 151 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Pittsburgh
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Kirk Erickson, PhD, University of Pittsburgh
- Investigators
- Kirk I Erickson, PhD, Principal investigator, University of Pittsburgh
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03771716
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STUDY19020263
- Other IDs
- 1R01AG060741-01
- Acronym
- REACT
- Status last verified
- Aug 2025
- First submitted
- 30 Nov 2018
- Last updated
- 13 Aug 2025
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 13 Aug 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Rhythm Experience and Africana Culture Trial II
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03771716
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- REACT / STUDY19020263
- Conditions
- Cognitive Performance, Brain Structure
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 151 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of PittsburghUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Aging (NIA)
- Study start
- 21 May 2019 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 25 Jul 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 16 Aug 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 11 Dec 2018 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 13 Aug 2025
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
REACT is a randomized intervention to examine the benefits of African Dance as a method to increase physical activity behaviors in older adults. In this 6- month intervention, older African Americans will be randomly assigned to either an African Dance or an Africana Culture class. Both before and at the completion of the intervention, the investigators will collect a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and MRI scans of brain health and function to better study how physical activity influences neurocognitive health in African Americans.
Detailed description
Aim 1: Examine whether the African Dance intervention improves cognitive performance compared to an educational control group. H1: The dance group will show cognitive improvements in a domain-specific fashion such that executive and memory functions will be enhanced more than other cognitive domains; Aim 2. Examine whether African Dance influences brain morphology, task-evoked neural responses, cerebral blood flow, and resting state connectivity. H1: It is predicted that African Dance will increase volume, white matter integrity, perfusion, and functional activation/connectivity in a regionally-specific fashion such that prefrontal and hippocampal areas will be more sensitive to the intervention than other brain regions. Aim 3. Explore potential physiological and socio-emotional mechanisms of the dance intervention. The investigators will collect measures of physical and psychosocial health such as waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipid levels, mood, anxiety, depression, and loneliness and examine whether intervention-related changes to these measures mediate improvements in cognitive performance.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- 180 African American older adults between the ages of 60-80 will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: African Dance or Africana Culture. Both groups will meet 3 times per week for 1 hour over a period of 6-months. Cognitive and brain metrics will be assessed at baseline and following the completion of the intervention.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| African Dance | Experimental | Behavioral: African DanceThis is the experimental group. Dance classes will be held 3 times per week for 1 hour. Participants will learn traditional Africana dance moves and sequences. |
| African Cultural Immersion | Active comparator | Behavioral: African Cultural ImmersionThis is the active control group. Participants will participate in a variety of educational activities related to African Culture, including traditional cooking, lectures, crafts, music and films. They will meet 3 times per week for the same duration as the Dance group. However, they will not participate in aerobic activity during the classes, and most activities will be conducted in a seated position. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 60 to 80 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (11 listed)
- self identifies race as African American
- between 60 and 80 years of age
- ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
- no history of falls or balance problems
- able to speak and read English
Key exclusion criteria (10 listed)
- self identifies race as other than African American
- not between 60 and 80 years of age
- not ambulatory without pain or the assistance of walking devices
- history of falls or balance problems
- unable to speak and read English
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| African DanceAlso: Dance GroupBasic principles and guidelines for exercise programming will be followed including adequate warm-up and cool-down, progressive and gradual increments in duration, and instruction regarding avoidance of physical activity (PA) related injury. The African dance group will receive moderate intensity dance 1 hour per day, twice per week, for 6 months. The prescribed intensity will begin at light to moderate and progress to a moderate to high intensity level. Frequent assessment of heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion will ensure appropriate levels of intensity during each dance session. Levels of exertion during the dance will be prescribed and monitored based on baseline assessments of heart rate and cardiorespiratory fitness. | Behavioural | African Dance |
| African Cultural ImmersionAlso: Culture GroupThe Culture group will participate in activities, including cooking, art and games, music, traditional crafts, and lectures and discussions about other aspects of Africana culture and customs. Topics will vary from session to session to maintain interest and engagement. The sessions will be held in a small group format and will be lead my personnel with training in each topic. Participants will meet 1 hour per day, 3 times per week, for 6 months. | Behavioural | African Cultural Immersion |
Primary outcome
Flanker Performance
Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6-months
A Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention task will be administered at baseline, and then following the intervention (6 months). The main outcome from this task is the computed score from the NIH Toolbox, which reflects the participant's ability to inhibit responses to irrelevant information while focusing attention on a target stimulus. In each trial, participants make a directional response to a center arrow when the flanking arrows are arranged in congruent vs. incongruent direction from the center stimulus. The computed score combines accuracy and reaction time into a single performance metric, ranging from 0 to 10, with higher values indicating better performance. Group differences will be tested on this outcome.
1 secondary outcome
Hippocampal Volume (mm3)
Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6-months
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 13 Aug 2025.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Kirk I Erickson, PhD principal investigator
University of Pittsburgh
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing African Dance and African Cultural Immersion in people with Cognitive Performance and Brain Structure, run by University of Pittsburgh at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 11 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 Aug 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 13 Aug 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Flanker Performance (time frame: Changes from baseline to 6-months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 13 Aug 2025.