Gajewski Patrick D, Thönes Sven, Falkenstein Michael, Wascher Edmund, Getzmann Stephan
Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), Dortmund, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Mainz, Dortmund, Germany.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Nov 16;14:586963. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.586963. eCollection 2020.
Healthy aging is associated with deficits in focused and sustained attention and executive functions. However, cognitive training (CT) provides a promising method to counteract these deficits. In the present randomized controlled study, we examined to what extent CT regimes can improve attention, verbal skills, and inhibition capacities. Over a period of 16 weeks, healthy older adults (65 years and older, mean: 70 years) received a trainer-guided multidomain paper-and-pencil and computerized CT. Pre- and post-training, a battery of psychometric tests was applied that measured the critical functions. This study used two control groups: a passive control and an active control group performing a relaxation training. Compared to a passive control group, the CT led to enhanced performance in the attentional endurance test and the interference list of the Stroop test, whereas no benefits in verbal and crystalized tests were found. Similar effects were found on the attentional endurance compared to the active control group. Additionally, word fluency was enhanced after CT, but the improvement in the Stroop test did not reach significance compared to the active control. The contents of CT were dissimilar to the psychometric tests showing far transfer, whereas no transfer to attentional or memory functions in the daily life assessed by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire was found. This demonstrates specific gains of multidomain CT on cognitive functions not explicitly trained and lack of transfer to daily activities.
健康老龄化与注意力集中、持续注意力及执行功能的缺陷有关。然而，认知训练（CT）提供了一种有前景的方法来对抗这些缺陷。在本随机对照研究中，我们考察了认知训练方案在多大程度上能够改善注意力、语言技能和抑制能力。在16周的时间里，健康的老年人（65岁及以上，平均年龄：70岁）接受了由训练师指导的多领域纸笔和计算机化认知训练。在训练前后，应用了一系列心理测量测试来测量关键功能。本研究使用了两个对照组：一个被动对照组和一个进行放松训练的主动对照组。与被动对照组相比，认知训练导致在注意力耐力测试和斯特鲁普测试的干扰列表中的表现有所提高，而在语言和晶体智力测试中未发现益处。与主动对照组相比，在注意力耐力方面发现了类似的效果。此外，认知训练后单词流畅性有所提高，但与主动对照组相比，斯特鲁普测试中的改善未达到显著水平。认知训练的内容与显示远迁移的心理测量测试不同，而在通过认知失误问卷评估的日常生活中的注意力或记忆功能方面未发现迁移。这证明了多领域认知训练对未明确训练的认知功能有特定的提升，且未迁移到日常活动中。
