The effects of video game training on the cognitive functioning of older adults: A community-based randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ContextUsing video games may enhance older adults’ cognitive skills, including executive function, processing speed, and spatial ability. ObjectiveWe examined the impact of video game training on the cognitive functioning of community-dwelling adults aged 65 or older and tested the hypotheses that larger training effects would be uncovered for practiced measures and that the employed time-compressed approach would reveal effects comparable to those reported in prior studies on this approach. MethodsThirty-five participants from four Senior Centers located in Los Angeles County, California completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group partaking in 15 h of supervised video game training over five weeks or to a control group completing an assessment battery before and after a five-week period. ResultsAfter statistically controlling for pretest performance and performance on the Memory Alteration Test, we found significant group differences regarding brief syllable count (p = .001, d = 1.28) and arithmetic assessments (p = .003, d = 1.10), as well as marginally significant differences on the Stroop Interference Test (p = .02, d = 0.89). We also found larger effects among practiced outcome variables (d = 0.72) than non-practiced outcome variables (d = 0.03); the effects were comparable to those reported in time-extended intervention studies (d = 0.35 and 0.36, respectively). Conclusions and implicationsResults suggest that playing an easily accessible video game in older age can enhance cognitive functioning, especially in areas directly tied to the video gaming activities.