. 2020 Feb 24;15(2):e0223029. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223029

Table 3. Summary characteristics of studies on remotely-delivered cognitive remediation and cognitive training.

Authors (Year)	Disease	N/Group Condition	Age (SD)	Design	Number of Sessions/ Period	Setting (Individual/Group/ Couple)	Outcome Measures	Results
Anguera et al. (2017)	Sensory Processing Dysfunction (SPD)	Experiment 1 = 62 (20 SPD +ADHD, 25 Control & 17 SPD only)	9.7 (1.3) SPD +ADHD, 10.5(1.3) Healthy Control, 10.3(1.5) SPD	Pilot Study; experimental design	30 mins per day which consists of 7 tasks, 3–4 minutes sessions, 5 days per week for 4 weeks	Patient (a child) and their caregiver (parent)	Perceptual discrimination task, Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) & EVO assessment (perceptual discrimination, visuomotor tracking and multitasking ability)	SPD children with inattention/hyperactivity showed improvement in midline frontal theta activity and in inattention. Experiment 1 and 2 used the same participants, but Experiment 2 used remote cognitive training.
Anguera et al. (2017)	Sensory Processing Dysfunction (SPD)	Experiment 2 = 57 (Final analysis:17, 22 & 10)		Pilot Study; experimental design		Patient (a child) and their caregiver (parent)
Boman et al. (2004)	Mild to moderate acquired non-progressive brain injury	10	47.5	Pre-post-follow-up design (single group)	1 hour, three times weekly for 3 weeks in their home or at work	Individual	The Attention Process Training test, Digit Span Test, Claeson-Dahl test, The Rivermead Behavioural Memory test, The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills, The European Brain Injury Questionnaire, Self-perceived quality of life.	Significant improvement in attention, concentration and memory. No significant improvement in activity.
Caller et al. (2016)	Epilepsy	66 randomized to 3 equal groups. Final analysis: 15 in H, 14 in H+ (coupled with memory training) and 20 control	49.3(9.2) H/H+ and 41.4(11.2) control	Randomized control trial	20–40 min daily, 5 days a week for 8 weeks	Individual	Quality of Life in Epilepsy scale, QOLIE-31, RBANS, PHQ-9, FACT-Cog, BRIEF-A and Satisfaction Survey	Significant improvement in cognition and quality of life.
Charvet et al. (2015)	Multiple Sclerosis	20 (11 Experiment & 9 Active Control)	19–55	Double blind randomized control trial	30 min per day/5 days a week over 12 weeks (Target: 60 total days played across 3 months)	Individual	Cognitive Composite: -WAIS-IV (LNS), SRT, BVMT-R, Corsi block visual sequence	Significant improvement in cognitive measures and motor tasks.
							Motor Composite: -DKEFS trials, Nine-hole peg test, Timed 25-foot walk
							Self-report measures: -ECog
Charvet et al. (2017)	Multiple Sclerosis	135 (74 Experiment & 61 Active control)	50 (12)	Double blind randomized control trial	1 hour per day, 5 days a week over 12 weeks (Total target: 60 hours)	Individual	Neuropsychological Test–PASAT, WAIS-IV (LNS & DSB), BVMT-R, D-KEFS, (2) Self Report change in Cognition.	Significant improvement in cognitive functioning.
Cody et al. (2015)	HIV	20	50.22(6.57)	Within subjects pre-post experiment	2 hours per week for 5 weeks (Target is 10 hours)	Individual	Useful Field of View (UFOV^®) Wisconsin Card Sorting, Finger Tapping, Timed IADL measures and feedback on training	Significant improvement in processing speed and possible transfer to activity of daily living.
Fisher et al. (2009)	Schizophrenia	55 (29 experiment auditory training & 26 control- computer games) -Only 10 in exp. group performed remote training	Experiment 42.86 (10.07)	Pre-post; controlled experiment design	1 hour per day, 5 days per week for 10 weeks	Individual	PANSS, Quality of Life–Abbreviated Version and MATRICS	Participants in experiment group showed significant improvement in cognition, memory and auditory psychophysical performance. Data analysis combined training from both remote & laboratory settings.
Fisher et al. (2009)	Schizophrenia		Control 45.31(9.39)	Pre-post; controlled experiment design	1 hour per day, 5 days per week for 10 weeks	Individual	PANSS, Quality of Life–Abbreviated Version and MATRICS
Fisher et al. (2015)	Schizophrenia	86 (43 experiment & 43 Control group)	21.22	Double blind randomized control trial	1 hour daily, 5 days per week for 8 weeks (40 hours training)	Individual	MATRICS, D-KEFS Tower Test, Strauss Carpenter Outcome, and Global Functioning: Role and Social Scales	Participants in experiment group (auditory training) showed significant improvement in cognition, memory and problem solving.
Johnstone et al. (2017)	ADHD	Total 107; 54 experiment (44 completed) & 53 control (41 completed)	N/A	Randomized waitlist control design	25 sessions over a period of 6 to 8 weeks (3 or 4 sessions a week)	Patient (child) and their caregiver (parent)	CBCL, Conners 3-P, ADHD-RS, and WIAT-11	Trainees improved in the trained tasks but enjoyment and engagement declined.
Kirk et al. (2016)	Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)	76 (38 Experiment & 38 Control; 37 in final analysis	8.22	Double blind randomized control trial	About 20 min per day, 5 times per week, over a 5 week period	Patient (a child) and their caregiver (parent)	WATT and SWAN	Children that received home based attention training showed greater improvement in selective attention performance.
Loewy et al. (2016)	Clinical High Risk (CHR) patients for psychosis	83 (Experiment 50; only 31 completed & Control 33; only 17 completed)	18.1	Double blind randomized control trial	1 hour per day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks (40 hours total)	Individual	SOPS, Global Functioning: Role and Social Scales, MATRICS, D-KEFS, NAB Mazes, HVLT-R and BVMT-R	Participants in experiment group showed significant improvement in verbal memory.
Mariano et al. (2015)	22q11 Deletion Syndrome	Enrolled: 22 Final analysis: 21	14.6 (1.3)	Longitudinal within-group design	45 min per day, 3 times per week for 8 months	Individual (teleconference)	Neurocognitive test battery; CNS Vital Signs (CNS-VS)	Significant improvement in working memory, shifting attention and cognitive flexibility.
McBride et al. (2017)	Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)	76 (36 CBT/GET program & 36 CBT/ GET + CR program)	35.5 (age range: 13–71)	Case control trail	3–5 sessions per week, up to a total of 40 sessions	Individual	SPHERE (SOMA & PSYCH subscale), SF-36, Neuropsychological Performance measures	Significant improvement in neurocognitive symptoms and cognition.
Milman et al. (2014)	Parkinson’s Disease	18	67.7 (6.4)	Pre-post; single group experiment	30 min a day, 3 days per week for 12 weeks	Individual	The Mindstreams (NeuroTrax Corp., TX) battery of computerized neuropsychological test and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test	Significant improvement in global cognitive score & Timed Up and Go (TUG) measures.
Mohanty & Gupta (2013)	Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)	1	24	Single case study	45 min to 1 hour twice a day, for 9 months	Individual and parent (father)	PGI Battery of Brain Dysfunction, Selected tests from NIMHANS & Dysfunctional Analysis Questionnaire	Improvement in cognitive functions and day to day functioning.
Nahum et al. (2014)	Schizophrenia	34 (17 Schizophrenia & 17 matched healthy control)	23.7	Pilot experimental study & within subject design	1–2 hours per day, 2–5 days per week for 6–12 weeks (24 hours)	Individual	SocialVille Training Program Feasibility and ease of use, SocialVille Exercise-based Assessments, Penn Facial Memory, PROID, MSCEIT), Social and Role Scales, SFS, QLS, BIS/BAS, TEPS	Improvement on speeded SocialVille and working memory tasks, motivation, social cognition and functioning. Only 10 Schizophrenia patients engaged in cognitive training from home.
Pyun et al. (2009)	Stroke (Cognitive Impairment)	Recruited 6 (2 did not complete the full 12 week home program)	48.7 (age range 28–62)	Multiple case study	2 hours (only 30 min of CR) per day, 7 days a week for 12 weeks	Patients and their caregivers	MMSE, NCSE, domain-specific computerized neuropsychological test, LOTCA, MBI & S-IADL	Significant improvement in activity of daily living and marginal improvement in general cognition.
Quayhagen et al. (2001)	Alzheimer’s Dementia	Experiment 1 56 couples (experimental vs. placebo vs. control)	Experiment 1 Patients; 73.18 & caregivers 67.75	Randomized control trial	Experiment 1 1 hour a day, 5 days a week for 12 weeks.	Spousal-caregiving units (patient and caregiver)	WMS-R, DRS, FAS, GCS & Marital Needs Satisfaction Scale.	Improvement in immediate memory for experimen1 and problem solving for experiment 2. Verbal fluency improved in both studies.
Quayhagen et al. (2001)	Alzheimer’s Dementia	Experiment 2 Patients; 74.97 & caregiver 72.57	Experiment 2 30 couples (experiment vs. control)	Randomized control trial	Experiment 2 1 hour a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks.	Spousal-caregiving units (patient and caregiver)	WMS-R, DRS, FAS, GCS & Marital Needs Satisfaction Scale.
Quayhagen et al. (1995)	Alzheimer’s Dementia	79 patients and caregivers (78 in final analysis)	73.6 (8.0) patients & 66.7 (10.8) caregivers	Randomized control trial	1 hour a day, 6 days a week for 12 weeks	Patient and their caregiver	DRS, WMS-R, FAS, Geriatric Coping Schedule, Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (part A)	Experiment group showed improvement in cognition and behavioral performance.
Rajeswaran et al. (2017)	Schizophrenia	1	26	Pre-post intervention single case study	1 hour a day for 10 weeks	Individual (patient) and caregiver (mother)	NIMHANS & social functioning	Cognitive retraining improved cognitive functions.
Regan et al. (2017)	Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) & Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD)	55 enrolled; 40 finished study (25 intervention & 15 control)	Client: 77.2 (6.5), Caregiver: 66.8 (15.0)	Multicenter randomized control trail	1 hour per week for 4 weeks	Individual with their caregiver	COPM, HADS, ICQ, MMCQ, QOD, B-ADL, ECOQ, RMBPC	Intervention group showed significant improvement in performance and satisfaction.
Shaw et al. (2017)	Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson Disease (PD)	Study 1: 26 (MS)	N/A	Study 1: Open label	Study 1: 20 min per day, 5 days a week for two weeks (9 session at home)	Individual	Feasibility report, UPDRS, NSNQ, PROMIS & PANAS	Supports the feasibility of remotely administrated tDCS paired with cognitive training. Study was ongoing at time of publication.
Shaw et al. (2017)	Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson Disease (PD)	Study 2: Double blind randomized sham control study (PD arm open label)	N/A	Study 2: 20 (MS) & 6 (PD)	Study 2 = 20 & PD = 10	Individual	Feasibility report, UPDRS, NSNQ, PROMIS & PANAS
Vazquez-Campo et al. (2016)	Schizophrenia	21 (12 intervention & 9 control); final = analysis 19	39.28	Pre/post pilot study	1 hour per week for 12 weeks	Individual	EP; Ekman 60 Faces Test, ToM; Hinting Task, Recognition of Faux Pas, Strange Stories of Happe, AIHQ; Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire, MSCEIT, PANSS, WAIS-IV & Semi-structured interview	Significant improvement in EP, ToM and AS variables. Only 30% took part in the intervention from their home.
Ventura et al. (2013)	Schizophrenia	Recruited 9 (8 completed study)	N/A	Feasibility study	1 hour twice per week for 6 weeks	Individual and relative	MCCB composite, -CGI-Cogs–patient, informant (relative) and rater version, BQKC total score–patient & relative version, SCORS social & work functioning	Improvement in cognition, knowledge (about the role of cognition in daily life), and improvement in social functioning.