Effects of cognitive training on enhancing verbal and visual-spatial working memory in older adults at risk of cognitive decline

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsz-yan Leung
2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie T. Y. Leung ◽  
Helena M. K. Tam ◽  
Leung W. Chu ◽  
Timothy C. Y. Kwok ◽  
Felix Chan ◽  
...  

Increasing research has evidenced that our brain retains a capacity to change in response to experience until late adulthood. This implies that cognitive training can possibly ameliorate age-associated cognitive decline by inducing training-specific neural plastic changes at both neural and behavioral levels. This longitudinal study examined the behavioral effects of a systematic thirteen-week cognitive training program on attention and working memory of older adults who were at risk of cognitive decline. These older adults were randomly assigned to the Cognitive Training Group (n=109) and the Active Control Group (n=100). Findings clearly indicated that training induced improvement in auditory and visual-spatial attention and working memory. The training effect was specific to the experience provided because no significant difference in verbal and visual-spatial memory between the two groups was observed. This pattern of findings is consistent with the prediction and the principle of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Findings of our study provided further support to the notion that the neural plastic potential continues until older age. The baseline cognitive status did not correlate with pre- versus posttraining changes to any cognitive variables studied, suggesting that the initial cognitive status may not limit the neuroplastic potential of the brain at an old age.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-43
Author(s):  
Ashley F. Curtis ◽  
Gary R. Turner ◽  
Norman W. Park ◽  
Susan J. E. Murtha

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (13) ◽  
pp. 1914-1927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marthe L. A. van der Donk ◽  
Anne-Claire Hiemstra-Beernink ◽  
Ariane C. Tjeenk-Kalff ◽  
Aryan van der Leij ◽  
Ramón J. L. Lindauer

Objective: To explore whether clinical variables and initial cognitive abilities predict or moderate (far) transfer treatment outcomes of cognitive training. Method: A total of 98 children (aged 8-12 years) with ADHD were randomly assigned to Cogmed Working Memory Training or a new cognitive training called “Paying Attention in Class.” Outcome measures included neurocognitive assessment, parent and teacher rated questionnaires of executive functioning behavior and academic performance. Predictor/moderator variables included use of medication, comorbidity, subtype of ADHD, and initial verbal and visual working memory skills. Results: Parent and teacher ratings of executive functioning behavior were predicted and moderated by subtype of ADHD. Word reading accuracy was predicted by subtype of ADHD and comorbidity. Use of medication and initial verbal and visual spatial working memory skills only predicted and moderated near transfer measures. Conclusion: Cognitive training can be beneficial for certain subgroups of children with ADHD; individual differences should be taken into account in future trials.


2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn H. Kroesbergen ◽  
Marloes van Dijk

Recent research has pointed to two possible causes of mathematical (dis-)ability: working memory and number sense, although only few studies have compared the relations between working memory and mathematics and between number sense and mathematics. In this study, both constructs were studied in relation to mathematics in general, and to mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) in particular. The sample consisted of 154 children aged between 6 and 10 years, including 26 children with MLD. Children performing low on either number sense or visual-spatial working memory scored lower on math tests than children without such a weakness. Children with a double weakness scored the lowest. These results confirm the important role of both visual-spatial working memory and number sense in mathematical development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108705472110120
Author(s):  
Kelly D. Carrasco ◽  
Chi-Ching Chuang ◽  
Gail Tripp

Objective: To identify common and shared predictors of academic achievement across samples of children with ADHD. Method: Two clinically referred samples from New Zealand (1 n = 88, 82% boys; 2 n = 121, 79% boys) and two community samples from the United States (3 n = 111, 65% boys; 4 n = 114, 69% boys), completed similar diagnostic, cognitive and academic assessments. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses identified significant predictors of word reading, spelling, and math computation performance in each sample. Results: Entered after IQ, semantic language, age at testing, and verbal working memory emerged as consistent predictors of achievement across academic subjects and samples. Visual-spatial working memory contributed to variance in math performance only. Symptom severity explained limited variance. Conclusions: We recommend evaluations of children with ADHD incorporate assessments of working memory and language skills. Classroom/academic interventions should accommodate reduced working memory and address any identified language weaknesses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 105402
Author(s):  
Yan Ge ◽  
Biying Sheng ◽  
Weina Qu ◽  
Yuexing Xiong ◽  
Xianghong Sun ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verner Knott ◽  
Anne Millar ◽  
Louise Dulude ◽  
Lisa Bradford ◽  
Fahad Alwahhabi ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Cohen ◽  
Xue Han ◽  
Anca Matei ◽  
Varakini Parameswaran ◽  
Robert Zuniga ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4096-4108
Author(s):  
Erin Smolak ◽  
Karla K. McGregor ◽  
Tim Arbisi-Kelm ◽  
Nichole Eden

Purpose Based on evidence of deficits in domain-general cognitive abilities associated with developmental language disorder (DLD), the current study examined sustained attention performance in children with DLD compared to children with typical language development (TLD) and the interrelations between visual–spatial sustained attention, visual–spatial working memory, and language abilities across groups. Method Participants included 67 children at 7 years of age: 25 children with DLD (13 girls and 12 boys) and 42 children with TLD (23 girls and 19 boys). We assessed children's visual–spatial sustained attention, visual–spatial working memory, and language ability on a test of narrative language. Result Children with DLD scored significantly below their peers on a measure of visual–spatial sustained attention. Significant intercorrelations were observed between sustained attention, working memory, and language ability within the DLD group, but no correlations were observed between these measures in the TLD group. Conclusion Children with DLD have domain-general deficits in sustained attention, and correlational results have implications for whether and how language abilities are supported by domain-general cognition in both typical and disordered development.


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