The Senior Odyssey: A Lab-to-Life Translation

描述（由申请人提供）： 认知老化的参与假设表明，与年龄相关的智力功能下降可能在某种程度上被以社会和智力参与为标志的生活方式所缓冲。然而，支持这一观点的证据主要基于相关性数据，而相关性数据又有其他解释，这使得人们不清楚参与是否会增强认知功能--或者智力能力更强的人是否更倾向于参与。在训练研究中，认知和智力能力是有选择地训练，已经发现很少产生转移到其他能力。我们在这个项目中的目标是收集试点数据的智力和社会参与的程序的影响，涉及创造性的问题解决在社会/协作的背景下。高级奥德赛项目是与国家情报局资助的罗伊巴尔健康心灵中心共同开发的，它以20多年前为儿童和年轻人开发的心灵奥德赛项目为蓝本。在这个项目中，参与者在团队中工作，以制定解决“长期”问题的方案，这些问题需要在创造性产品的过程中进行反思和协商规划（例如，建造一个木结构来容纳一定的重量，或一辆车来实现给定的运输目标，或写一个剧本来说明某个观点），以及练习“自发”的问题，这需要在社会互动的背景下流畅，灵活和原创性。高级志愿者将被随机分配参加高级奥德赛计划或选择性认知训练（即，速度训练或记忆训练）。要检验的假设是，基本认知技能的练习（例如，速度、记忆力、流畅性、执行功能）将广泛增强认知功能，并增加正念、感知控制和生活满意度。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The engagement hypothesis of cognitive aging suggests that age-related declines in intellectual functioning may to some extent be buffered by a lifestyle marked by social and intellectual engagement. Evidence for this idea, however, is primarily based on correlation data, which is subject to other interpretations, making it unclear whether engagement enhances cognitive function - or whether more intellectually capable individuals are prone to engagement. Training studies, in which cognitive and intellectual abilities are selectively trained, have been found to produce very little transfer to other abilities. Our goal in this project is to collect pilot data on the effects of a program of intellectual and social engagement, involving creative problem solving in a social/collaborative context. The Senior Odyssey project, developed in conjunction with the NIA-funded Roybal Center for Healthy Minds, is modeled on the Odyssey of the Mind program, developed for children and young adults over 20 years ago. In this program, participants work in teams to develop solutions to "long-term" problems that require reflection and negotiated planning in the generation of a creative product (e.g., building a wood structure to hold a certain amount of weight or a vehicle to achieve a given transportation goal, or write and perform a play to illustrate a certain point), as well as to practice "spontaneous" problems, which require fluency, flexibility, and originality in the context of social interaction. Senior volunteers will be randomly assigned to participate in the Senior Odyssey program or to selective cognitive training (i.e., speed training or memory training). The hypothesis to be tested is that the practice of basic cognitive skills (e.g., speed, memory, fluency, executive function) situated in the rich context of social interaction and goals for creative work will broadly enhance cognitive function as well as increase mindfulness, perceived control, and life satisfaction.