Abstract
BackgroundWhether healthy older people can benefit from cognitive training (CogTr) remains controversial. This study explored the benefits of CogTr in community dwelling, healthy, older adults and compared the effects of single-domain with multi-domain CogTr interventions.MethodsA randomized, controlled, 3-month trial of CogTr with double-blind assessments at baseline and immediate, 6-month and 12-month follow-up after training completion was conducted. A total of 270 healthy Chinese older people, 65 to 75 years old, were recruited from the Ganquan-area community in Shanghai. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups: multi-domain CogTr, single-domain CogTr, and a wait-list control group. Twenty-four sessions of CogTr were administrated to the intervention groups over a three-month period. Six months later, three booster training sessions were offered to 60% of the initial training participants. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS, Form A), the Color Word Stroop test (CWST), the Visual Reasoning test and the Trail Making test (TMT) were used to assess cognitive function.ResultsMulti-domain CogTr produced statistically significant training effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, and immediate and delayed memory, while single-domain CogTr showed training effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, word interference, and visuospatial/constructional score (all P < 0.05). At the 12-month posttest, the multi-domain CogTr showed training effects on RBANS, delayed memory and visual reasoning, while single-domain CogTr only showed effects on word interference. Booster training resulted in effects on RBANS, visual reasoning, time of trail making test, and visuospatial/constructional index score.ConclusionsCognitive training can improve memory, visual reasoning, visuospatial construction, attention and neuropsychological status in community-living older people and can help maintain their functioning over time. Multi-domain CogTr enhanced memory proficiency, while single-domain CogTr augmented visuospatial/constructional and attention abilities. Multi-domain CogTr had more advantages in training effect maintenance.Clinical Trial RegistrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number: ChiCTR-TRC-09000732.
Highlights
Whether healthy older people can benefit from cognitive training (CogTr) remains controversial
The results showed that CogTr enhances the targeted cognitive functions even in the 12-month follow-up evaluations [2]
The first aim of the present study was to explore whether community dwelling, healthy, older adults could benefit from CogTr
Summary
Whether healthy older people can benefit from cognitive training (CogTr) remains controversial. Declining cognition in older people accounts for a major portion of increased health care costs [1] As adults age, their risk for cognitive decline rises, resulting in an increasingly poor quality of life. Increasing mental activity in older people by directed cognitive training (CogTr) interventions represents a promising and novel approach to resisting age-related cognitive decline and even potentially curtailing the rise of dementia [6]. Valenzuela et al [8] focused on meta-analysis of the effect of CogTr on longitudinal performance in healthy adults They demonstrated that CogTr could help slow the rate of agerelated cognitive decline in a range of cognitive tasks with, on average, a moderate effect size (ES) of 0.6. Single-domain CogTr neglects the complicated interactions between multiple mental processes required to create and preserve a viable and healthy mental state capable of the flexible thinking necessary to interact appropriately with one’s world [24]
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