The effects of 24‐week computerized cognitive training in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease: A single‐blind controlled trial

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundComputerized cognitive training (CCT) has been recommended to delay cognitive decline in the healthy elderly. However, little studies have been involved in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to date. The present study thus aimed to investigate the efficacy of CCT intervention on patients with MCI and AD through multimodal evaluation.MethodA single‐blind active controlled design used multidomain, adaptive, computerized cognitive training. The training program was 40 minutes a day, at least 5 days per week for 24 weeks. Neuropsychological battery was used to assess cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) and activities of daily living (ADL), and brain functional connectivity was also evaluated by functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) .ResultForty patients were enrolled from the Memory Clinic, Department of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. At the end of the intervention, 30 patients completed the trial, in which 20 patients were in training group (T‐MCI, n = 15; T‐mAD, n = 5), and 10 patients were in control group (C‐MCI, n = 6; C‐mAD, n = 4). Compared to C‐MCI group, T‐MCI showed significant improvement in Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale‐Cognition subscale (ADAS‐Cog) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) at the end of intervention (all P<0.05) and presented with improved Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) at the first month(P<0.05), while T‐mAD group displayed improvement tendency in these scales but with no statistical significance. Importantly, significant increasements were analyzed upon functional connectivity between left primary somatosensory cortex (PSC.L), left supplementary motor area (SMA.L) cortex and right Broca’s area (Broca’s. R) (all P<0.001, FDR corrected) after CCT of 6 months in T‐MCI group (n = 11).ConclusionPerformances of Cognitive function and NPSs are significantly improved via CCT in patients with MCI, and the neuronal plasticity is enhanced.aging after age 90.