Seniors Function Better with Cognitive Training

Older people are almost certainly going to experience some decline in mental abilities as they get older. So the search is on for means of postponing such changes as long as possible. One approach is training – so-called cognitive training – which can be targeted at various aspects of everyday function.

A study evaluating the benefits of different approaches to cognitive training of older people has just been reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Over 2,800 volunteers over 65 (in fact, their average age was 74) were allocated to one of 4 groups:

Memory training

Reasoning

Speed of processing

Controls – no training

Training consisted of 10 sessions in the particular discipline, with 4-session booster training at 11 and 35 months in some of the volunteers. The instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) were used to assess changes after 2 and 5 years.

After 5 years, compared with the untreated group there were improvements in those abilities related to the particular training they received, but these improvements were not reflected in a significant improvement in the instrumental activities of daily living (e.g. preparing meals, managing money, shopping for groceries). However, there were greater improvements in those subjects that had received booster sessions, and significant benefits in those in the ‘reasoning’ group in IADL measures.

What did the ‘reasoning’ group learn in their training sessions? Word lists, sequences of items, and pattern recognition.

The investigators were a bit disappointed in the results of this study. They had expected (or hoped for) more dramatic, significant effects of training. Nevertheless, the study did show some minor benefits, and a significant one for the ‘reasoning’ group. It was suggested that targeting specific programs for individuals could improve success rates; and possibly extending the use of this approach to people who were less well-functioning at the start of the training. Computer-assisted training might provide a cheaper, easier way of providing this in a self-service fashion.