Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2013 Apr;25(4):617-26. doi: 10.1017/S1041610212002177. Epub 2012 Dec 20.
A growing number of studies are attempting to understand how effective cognitive interventions may be for patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), particularly in relation to their memory problems.
The present study aimed to explore the benefits of a working memory (WM) training program in aMCI patients. Patients (N = 20) were randomly assigned to two training programs: the experimental group practiced with a verbal WM task, while the active control group conducted educational activities on memory.
Results showed that the aMCI patients completing the WM training obtained specific gains in the task trained with some transfer effects on other WM measures (visuospatial WM) and on processes involved in or related to WM, e.g. fluid intelligence (the Cattell test) and long-term memory. This was not the case for the aMCI control group, who experienced only a very limited improvement.
This pilot study suggests that WM training could be a valuable method for improving cognitive performance in aMCI patients, possibly delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
越来越多的研究试图了解认知干预对遗忘型轻度认知障碍（aMCI）患者的有效性，尤其是在其记忆问题方面。
本研究旨在探索工作记忆（WM）训练方案对 aMCI 患者的益处。将患者（N=20）随机分配到两个训练方案中：实验组通过言语 WM 任务进行练习，而主动对照组则进行记忆方面的教育活动。
结果表明，完成 WM 训练的 aMCI 患者在接受训练的任务中获得了特定的收益，并在其他 WM 测量指标（视空间 WM）和与 WM 相关或涉及 WM 的过程（如流体智力（卡特尔测试）和长期记忆）方面获得了一些转移效应。对照组的 aMCI 患者则没有出现这种情况，他们仅获得了非常有限的改善。
这项初步研究表明，WM 训练可能是改善 aMCI 患者认知表现的有效方法，可能会延迟阿尔茨海默病的发病。
