Abstract
Public awareness of cognitive health is fairly recent compared to physical health. Growing evidence suggests that cognitive training offers promise in augmenting cognitive brain performance in normal and clinical populations. Targeting higher-order cognitive functions, such as reasoning in particular, may promote generalized cognitive changes necessary for supporting the complexities of daily life. This data-driven perspective highlights cognitive and brain changes measured in randomized clinical trials that trained gist reasoning strategies in populations ranging from teenagers to healthy older adults, individuals with brain injury to those at-risk for Alzheimer's disease. The evidence presented across studies support the potential for Gist reasoning training to strengthen cognitive performance in trained and untrained domains and to engage more efficient communication across widespread neural networks that support higher-order cognition. The meaningful benefits of Gist training provide compelling motivation to examine optimal dose for sustained benefits as well as to explore additive benefits of meditation, physical exercise, and/or improved sleep in future studies.
Highlights
Five decades of research have shown that the brain is modifiable in the context of stimulating cognitive experiences and in response to cognitive training (e.g., Bennett et al, 1964; Schooler, 1984; Schooler et al, 1999)
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF COGNITIVE TRAINING PROTOCOLS In the distinct studies summarized below, we examined the potential for Gist reasoning training to improve cognitive performance as compared to control protocol/s using a pseudo-randomized control design
OPPORTUNITIES This synopsis of key findings across studies in normal and clinical populations indicates Gist reasoning training has the potential to improve cognitive performance beyond skills trained with the likelihood of enhancing underlying neural systems, as well as real life functional abilities
Summary
Enhancement of cognitive and neural functions through complex reasoning training: evidence from normal and clinical populations. Targeting higher-order cognitive functions, such as reasoning in particular, may promote generalized cognitive changes necessary for supporting the complexities of daily life. This data-driven perspective highlights cognitive and brain changes measured in randomized clinical trials that trained gist reasoning strategies in populations ranging from teenagers to healthy older adults, individuals with brain injury to those at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The evidence presented across studies support the potential for Gist reasoning training to strengthen cognitive performance in trained and untrained domains and to engage more efficient communication across widespread neural networks that support higher-order cognition.
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