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Training cognitive control in old adults| old_uid | 7902 |
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| title | Training cognitive control in old adults |
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| start_date | 2010/01/07 |
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| schedule | 10h30 |
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| online | no |
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| summary | Executive control functions and the ability to cope with dynamic high demands have been shown to be markedly deteriorated at old age. Improving the cognitive functioning of old adults has become a focal interest in contemporary aging research. In the present study old adults were trained in a complex highly demanding computer game. This game "Space Fortress" was originally developed as an attention trainer for flight candidates and was shown to improve their actual flight performance. It is highly demanding, requiring divided attention under severe time constraints, continuous and discrete motor control, visual search, working and long memory, resource management and decision making. Two groups of 20 subjects each (age 65-75) were trained for 3 one-hour weekly sessions for 12 consecutive weeks. One group was given initial instructions but practiced unguided from there on. A second group was trained under the Emphasis Change protocol, which involves systematic instructions for allocation of attention to specific aspects of the game. This protocol was shown to be highly efficient in training to cope with high demands. To our surprise both groups did not despair and showed their ability to cope with the high demands and improve with practice. Subjects were highly motivated and only 4 left before completing 36 sessions. Emphasis change subjects successfully adopted alternative attention policies. Results will be discussed in the light of contemporary theoretical claims on cognitive decline with aging and implications for cognitive training of old adults. |
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| responsibles | Marin |
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