Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) versus Yoga Impact on 12 Month Post Intervention Cognitive Outcome in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Vaishali S Phatak,Melanie J Chandler,Glenn E Smith,Pamela M Dean,Dona Locke,Anne Shandera-Ochsner,Gianna Gutierrez,Colleen Ball

doi:10.3390/brainsci11080988

Abstract

There is currently limited and mixed evidence for the cognitive benefits of Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) and yoga in persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (pwMCI). The objective of this study was to investigate the benefit of computerized cognitive training (CCT) vs. physical (yoga) intervention on cognitive abilities. Participants in this study were part of the larger Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Action to Benefit Independence and Thinking (HABIT) program comparative effectiveness trial. The HABIT program is designed for pwMCI and their care partner and consists of five behavioral interventions: CCT, Memory Support System-Calendar (MSS-Calendar), wellness education, support groups, and yoga. The subtractive study design randomly withheld one of the interventions for a total of five study arms. Longitudinal mixed-effects regression models were used to investigate the hypothesis that CCT and yoga has a greater positive impact on psychomotor and basic attention abilities at 12 months post-intervention as compared to the other HABIT interventions. Findings showed CCT had a positive impact compared to yoga on the Cogstate psychomotor/attention composite at 12 months post-intervention (ES = 0.54; unadjusted p value = 0.007, adjusted p value = 0.021). The impact of yoga or combining CCT with yoga did not show statistically significant improvement. Continued CCT practice at home showed further benefit on psychomotor/attention at 12 months post-intervention. There was no significant benefit of CCT or yoga on Cogstate learning/working memory composite.

Highlights

This article is an open access articleThe global population of adults over the age of 65 is expected to grow from 8.5%in 2015 to 16.7% by 2050 [1]
The results showed the greatest effect size for quality of life was between the persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (pwMCI) group that did not receive wellness education compared to the pwMCI group that did not receive Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) [23]
For evaluating the impact of CCT versus yoga on cognitive scores at 12 months, we focused on estimation of the difference (d) between the average of the means in the no CCT arm (μ1) and the mean in the no yoga arm (μ2) by expressing it as a linear contrast: d = −1μ1 + 1μ2 + 0μ3 + 0μ4 + 0μ5, where μ3, μ4, and μ5 are the means for the arms that included both CCT and yoga

Summary

Introduction

This article is an open access articleThe global population of adults over the age of 65 is expected to grow from 8.5%in 2015 to 16.7% by 2050 [1]. In 2015, it was estimated that 46 million individuals were living with Alzheimer’s disease globally, and the number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to reach as high as distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons. 131.5 million by the year 2050 [2] Given these demographic trends, there is interest in investigating the benefits of salutary cognitive and physical activities in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. Observational studies have found that cognitively enriching leisure activities, such as reading, playing board games, and playing musical instruments, reduce risk of cognitive impairment in older adults [3]. More detailed research has found that a higher amount of leisure activity (1 h a day) was beneficial for reducing risk of dementia [4]. There is some encouraging evidence that working memory training with older adults has shown to transfer to fluid intelligence tasks, processing speed tasks, and episodic memory tasks [6,7,8]

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