Improving General Cognitive Functioning in Seniors via Executive Control Training

描述(申请人提供)：随着年龄的增长，他们的智力表现出大幅下降，这概括了广泛的认知功能，这与个人和整个社会的一些客观成本(例如，执行日常生活活动的能力降低、预期寿命降低、跌倒)有关。然而，除了有氧运动可能的例外，还没有容易获得的、基于证据的疗法来对抗这些负面的衰老影响。针对这种情况，我们建议开发一个以执行控制功能为目标的基于网络的认知训练计划。由于执行控制功能是更高层次的认知功能的关键，因此它们的增强有望带来广泛的好处。此外，最近的经验证据表明，强化训练确实会改善执行控制功能，而且这种改善也适用于其他未经训练的认知能力。除了注重执行控制功能外，训练计划的核心特征是(A)它将根据每个人的能力特征量身定做干预练习，(B)它将根据用户的表现自动调整运动难度，(C)它将把必要的高强度训练分配到短的、易于管理的单元，以及(D)它将是多组件的，目标是三种不同的执行控制能力(工作记忆、长期记忆控制和执行任务管理)。在第一阶段，我们计划设计一个完整的基于网络的计划的原型，包括两个组成部分(工作记忆和长期记忆控制)，并在随机试验中评估其有效性，使用60名老年人的样本，包括后测和一个月的跟踪评估。公共卫生相关性：衰老导致的认知功能下降是一个主要的健康问题。然而，针对执行控制功能的认知培训计划已被证明可推广到其他认知功能，并可能延缓认知衰退的发生和进展，这将有助于老年人独立生活更长时间，并将对公共健康产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As people age, their intellectual abilities show substantial decline that generalizes across a wide range of cognitive functions and that is associated with a number of objective costs for both the individual (e.g., decreased ability to perform activities of daily living, reduced life expectancy, falls) and for society as a whole. However, with the possible exception of aerobic exercise, there is no easily accessible, evidence-based remedy available to counter these negative aging effects. In response to this situation, we propose to develop a web-based cognitive training program that targets executive control functions. Because executive control functions are key to higher-level cognitive functioning in a domain-general manner, their enhancement is expected to lead to widespread benefits. Moreover, recent empirical evidence suggests that executive control functions do in fact improve with intensive training and that this improvement generalizes to other non-trained cognitive abilities. In addition to focusing on executive control functions, the core features of the training program are (a) that it will tailor the intervention exercises to each individual's ability profile, (b) that it will automatically adapt exercise difficulty to user performance, (c) that it will distribute the necessarily intensive training across short, easily manageable units, and (d) that it will be multi-component in nature, targeting three distinct executive control abilities (working memory, long-term memory control, and executive task management). In Phase I, we plan to design a prototype of the full web-based program consisting of two components (working memory and long-term memory control) and to assess its efficacy in a randomized trial using a sample of 60 older adults and including assessments at posttest and one-month follow-up. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Reduced cognitive functioning due to aging is a major health concern. However, cognitive training programs that target executive control functions have been shown to generalize to other cognitive functions and may delay the onset and progression of cognitive decline, which would help older adults live longer independently and would have a significant public health impact.