Yow Wei Quin, Sou Ka Lon, Wong Alina Clarise
Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore.
Innov Aging. 2024 May 27;8(7):igae052. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igae052. eCollection 2024.
Bilingualism has been suggested to protect older adults from cognitive aging and delay the onset of dementia. However, no studies have systematically explored bilingual usage as a tool to mitigate age-related cognitive decline. We developed the Dual-Language Intervention in Semantic memory-Computerized (DISC), a novel cognitive training program with three training tasks (object categorization, verbal fluency, and utility of things) designed specifically for older adults that featured two modes: single-language (SL) exposure mode and dual-language (DL) exposure mode.
The final sample included 50 cognitively healthy (CH; 33 female, = 72.93 years, range = 53.08-87.43 years) and 48 cognitively impaired (CI; 35 female, = 80.93 years, range = 62.31-96.67 years) older adults, randomly assigned them into one of three groups: SL group, DL group, and control group (no training). Participants in SL and DL groups used DISC in either SL mode (i.e., training instructions were spoken in only one language throughout the entire training) or DL mode (i.e., training instructions alternated between two languages), respectively, for 24 sessions. Participants in the control group were asked to continue with their normal daily activities (e.g., playing bingo and reading newspapers).
For CH older adults, we found significant improvements in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) Trial 5 score and the Clock Drawing Test score in the DL group but not in the SL and control groups posttraining compared with pretraining. For CI older adults, there was a delayed improvement in the RAVLT Trial 1, six months later.
Our findings provided novel evidence that implementing DL cognitive training benefits CH older adult's late verbal learning and visuospatial construction skills, and a delayed improvement in CI older adults' early verbal learning abilities.
有研究表明，双语能力有助于保护老年人免受认知衰老影响，并延缓痴呆症的发病。然而，尚无研究系统地探讨将双语使用作为减轻与年龄相关的认知衰退的一种手段。我们开发了语义记忆计算机化双语干预（DISC），这是一种新颖的认知训练项目，包含三个专门为老年人设计的训练任务（物体分类、语言流畅性和物品用途），具有两种模式：单语（SL）暴露模式和双语（DL）暴露模式。
最终样本包括50名认知健康（CH；33名女性，平均年龄=72.93岁，范围=53.08 - 87.43岁）和48名认知受损（CI；35名女性，平均年龄=80.93岁，范围=62.31 - 96.67岁）的老年人，将他们随机分为三组：SL组、DL组和对照组（无训练）。SL组和DL组的参与者分别以SL模式（即整个训练过程中训练指导仅用一种语言）或DL模式（即训练指导在两种语言之间交替）使用DISC进行24次训练。对照组的参与者被要求继续其正常的日常活动（如玩宾果游戏和看报纸）。
对于CH老年人，我们发现与训练前相比，训练后DL组的雷伊听觉词语学习测验（RAVLT）第5次试验得分和画钟测验得分有显著提高，而SL组和对照组则没有。对于CI老年人，在6个月后的RAVLT第1次试验中有延迟改善。
我们的研究结果提供了新的证据，即实施双语认知训练有益于CH老年人后期的语言学习和视觉空间构建技能，以及CI老年人早期语言学习能力的延迟改善。
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