MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2020 Jul;30(6):1092-1114. doi: 10.1080/09602011.2018.1554534. Epub 2018 Dec 20.
Difficulties with attention are common following stroke, particularly in patients with frontal and parietal damage, and are associated with poor outcome. Home-based online cognitive training may have the potential to provide an efficient and effective way to improve attentional functions in such patients. Little work has been carried out to assess the efficacy of this approach in stroke patients, and the lack of studies with active control conditions and rigorous evaluations of cognitive functioning pre and post-training means understanding is limited as to whether and how such interventions may be effective. Here, in a feasibility pilot study, we compare the effects of 20 days of cognitive training using either novel Selective Attention Training (SAT) or commercial Working Memory Training (WMT) programme, versus a waitlist control on a range of attentional and working memory tasks. We demonstrate separable effects of each training condition, with SAT leading to improvements in spatial and non-spatial aspects of attention and WMT leading to improvements on closely related working memory tasks. In addition, both training groups reported improvements in everyday functioning, which were associated with improvements in attention, suggesting that improving attention may be of particular importance in maximising functional improvements in this patient group.
注意力障碍在中风后很常见，特别是在额叶和顶叶损伤的患者中，并且与预后不良有关。基于家庭的在线认知训练可能具有改善此类患者注意力功能的有效方法的潜力。在中风患者中，这项方法的功效评估工作很少，并且缺乏具有积极对照条件和严格的训练前后认知功能评估的研究，这意味着对于此类干预措施是否以及如何有效，我们的理解有限。在这里，在一项可行性试点研究中，我们比较了 20 天使用新型选择性注意训练（SAT）或商业工作记忆训练（WMT）计划与候补对照组在一系列注意力和工作记忆任务上的认知训练的效果。我们证明了每种训练条件的可分离效果，SAT 导致空间和非空间注意方面的改善，而 WMT 导致密切相关的工作记忆任务的改善。此外，两个训练组都报告说日常功能有所改善，这与注意力的改善有关，这表明改善注意力可能对最大限度地提高该患者组的功能改善尤为重要。
