Brain training in older adults: Evidence of transfer to memory span performance and pseudo-Matthew effects

ABSTRACT In this study the effects of ‘brain training’ using the Nintendo DS Brain Training program were examined in two groups of older adults; the cognitive performance of an experimental group (n = 21) who were asked to use the Nintendo DS regularly over a 6-week period was compared with the control group (n = 20). Groups were matched on age (mean age = 74 years), education, computer experience, daily activities (time spent reading or watching television), and initial scores of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Analyses revealed that improvements were primarily in the Digit Span Test, specifically Digits Backwards. Although the Brain Training package appeared to have some efficacy, other factors such as perceived quality of life and perceived cognitive functioning were at least equally important in determining training outcomes. The implications of these findings for cognitive training are discussed.

[1]  P. Karzmark.  The Effect of Cognitive, Personality, and Background Factors on the WAIS-III Arithmetic Subtest , 2009, Applied neuropsychology.

[2]  P. Verhaeghen.  Aging and vocabulary scores: a meta-analysis. , 2003, Psychology and aging.

[3]  Pamela K. Smith,et al.  Models of visuospatial and verbal memory across the adult life span. , 2002, Psychology and aging.

[4]  D. Wechsler.  Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. , 1955 .

[5]  M. Chen,et al.  Leisure activity and risk of cognitive impairment: The Chongqing aging study , 2006, Neurology.

[6]  Ann Bowling,et al.  Enhancing later life: How older people perceive active ageing? , 2008, Aging & mental health.

[7]  I. Deary,et al.  Lifetime intellectual function and satisfaction with life in old age: longitudinal cohort study , 2005, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[8]  F. Craik,et al.  Cognition through the lifespan: mechanisms of change , 2006, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[9]  Arthur F. Kramer,et al.  Training for executive control: Task coordination strategies and aging , 1999 .

[10]  C. Lustig,et al.  Targeting latent function: encouraging effective encoding for successful memory training and transfer. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[11]  A. D. Fisk,et al.  Do ability-performance relationships differentiate age and practice effects in visual search? , 1994, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[12]  Paige E. Scalf,et al.  Training-induced plasticity in older adults: Effects of training on hemispheric asymmetry , 2007, Neurobiology of Aging.

[13]  W A Rogers.  Age differences in visual search: target and distractor learning. , 1992, Psychology and aging.

[14]  J. Torgesen,et al.  Individual difference variables that predict response to training in phonological awareness. , 1996, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[15]  Shu-Chen Li,et al.  The Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development: Overview of conceptual agenda and illustration of research activities. , 2007 .

[16]  I. Deary,et al.  Physical fitness and lifetime cognitive change , 2006, Neurology.

[17]  K. Ball,et al.  Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. , 2006, JAMA.

[18]  J. Horn.  The Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence in Relation to Concepts of Cognitive Psychology and Aging in Adulthood , 1982 .

[19]  A. Baron,et al.  Response slowing of older adults: effects of time-limit contingencies on single- and dual-task performances. , 1989, Psychology and aging.

[20]  Greg L. West,et al.  Visuospatial experience modulates attentional capture: evidence from action video game players. , 2008, Journal of vision.

[21]  S. Reimers,et al.  Task switching across the life span: effects of age on general and specific switch costs. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[22]  A. Kramer,et al.  Cognitive Plasticity and Aging , 2003 .

[23]  J. B. Hale,et al.  Analyzing Digit Span Components for Assessment of Attention Processes , 2002 .

[24]  K. A. Ericsson,et al.  Maintaining excellence: deliberate practice and elite performance in young and older pianists. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[25]  Lenore J. Launer,et al.  The NIH Cognitive and Emotional Health Project Report of the Critical Evaluation Study Committee , 2006, Alzheimer's & Dementia.

[26]  A. Kramer,et al.  Can training in a real-time strategy video game attenuate cognitive decline in older adults? , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[27]  J. Pratt,et al.  Playing an Action Video Game Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Cognition , 2007, Psychological science.

[28]  M. Merzenich,et al.  Brain plasticity and functional losses in the aged: scientific bases for a novel intervention. , 2006, Progress in brain research.

[29]  Arthur F. Kramer,et al.  Neural correlates of dual-task performance after minimizing task-preparation , 2005, NeuroImage.

[30]  P. Baltes,et al.  Cognitive developmental research from lifespan perspectives: The challenge of integration , 2006 .

[31]  H. Walberg,et al.  Matthew Effects in Education , 1983 .

[32]  S. Jaeggi,et al.  The concurrent validity of the N-back task as a working memory measure , 2010, Memory.

[33]  Denise C. Park,et al.  Handbook of the Psychology of Aging , 1979 .

[34]  S. Skevington,et al.  The World Health Organization's WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment: Psychometric properties and results of the international field trial. A Report from the WHOQOL Group , 2004, Quality of Life Research.

[35]  K. Stanovich.  Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. , 1986 .

[36]  Shu-Chen Li,et al.  Working memory plasticity in old age: practice gain, transfer, and maintenance. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[37]  A. Kaufman,et al.  Assessing Adolescent and Adult Intelligence , 1990 .

[38]  A. Welford,et al.  Ageing and human skill , 1958 .

[39]  Trey Hedden,et al.  Contributions of Processing Ability and Knowledge to Verbal Memory Tasks across the Adult Life-Span , 2005, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[40]  D. Bennett,et al.  Detailed assessment of activities of daily living in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease , 2005, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[41]  Daphne Bavelier,et al.  Differential development of visual attention skills in school-age children , 2010, Vision Research.

[42]  A. Baddeley.  Working memory: looking back and looking forward , 2003, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[43]  T. Salthouse.  Memory Aging From 18 to 80 , 2003, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders.

[44]  Reinhold Kliegl,et al.  Further Testing of Limits of Cognitive Plasticity: Negative Age Differences in a Mnemonic Skill Are Robust , 1992 .

[45]  F. Conners,et al.  Is the phonological loop responsible for intelligence-related differences in forward digit span? , 1998, American journal of mental retardation : AJMR.

[46]  D. Gopher,et al.  Attention and performance XVII: Cognitive regulation of performance: Interaction of theory and application. , 1999 .

[47]  F. Craik,et al.  Lifespan cognition: Mechanisms of change. , 2006 .

[48]  U. Mayr.  Introduction to the special section on cognitive plasticity in the aging mind. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[49]  Nachshon Meiran,et al.  Modelling cognitive control in task switching and ageing , 2001 .

[50]  Ariel Miller,et al.  Home-based personalized cognitive training in MS patients: a study of adherence and cognitive performance. , 2010, NeuroRehabilitation.

[51]  Paul B. Baltes,et al.  Intellectual Development in Adulthood: The Seattle Longitudinal Study , 1996 .

[52]  E. Tangalos,et al.  Memory function in normal aging , 1992, Neurology.

[53]  Melissa Lamar,et al.  Contribution of specific cognitive processes to executive functioning in an aging population. , 2002, Neuropsychology.

[54]  D. Bavelier,et al.  Exercising your brain: a review of human brain plasticity and training-induced learning. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[55]  Renjie Li,et al.  Perceptual Learning During Action Video Game Playing , 2010, Top. Cogn. Sci..

[56]  Jessica A. Grahn,et al.  Putting brain training to the test , 2010, Nature.

[57]  D. Bennett,et al.  Reply from the authors [6] , 2006 .

[58]  Susanne M. Jaeggi,et al.  Impact of working memory training on memory performance in old-old adults. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[59]  Susanne M. Jaeggi,et al.  Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory: a meta-analysis , 2008, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

[60]  A. Monk,et al.  Learning to read: the role of short-term memory and phonological skills. , 1994, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[61]  Lars Nyberg,et al.  Neural correlates of training-related memory improvement in adulthood and aging , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[62]  L. Phillips,et al.  Real-world problem solving and quality of life in older people. , 2007, British journal of health psychology.

[63]  D. E. Mireles,et al.  Computational explorations of the influence of structured knowledge on age-related cognitive decline. , 2002, Psychology and aging.

[64]  John D E Gabrieli,et al.  A longitudinal study of implicit and explicit memory in old persons. , 2004, Psychology and aging.

[65]  Paul Verhaeghen,et al.  Ten – Memory Aging , 2006 .

[66]  Mark S. Seidenberg,et al.  Development and validation of a Multiple Ability Self-Report Questionnaire. , 1994, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[67]  A. Miyake,et al.  The separability of working memory resources for spatial thinking and language processing: an individual differences approach. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[68]  Natalie C. Ebner,et al.  Developmental changes in personal goal orientation from young to late adulthood: from striving for gains to maintenance and prevention of losses. , 2006, Psychology and aging.

[69]  Sandra E. Trehub,et al.  Aging and cognitive processes , 1982 .

[70]  Lars Nyberg,et al.  Plasticity of executive functioning in young and older adults: immediate training gains, transfer, and long-term maintenance. , 2008, Psychology and aging.

[71]  P. Verhaeghen,et al.  On the mechanisms of plasticity in young and older adults after instruction in the method of loci: evidence for an amplification model. , 1996, Psychology and aging.

[72]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  A quasi-experimental approach to assessing treatment effects in the nonequivalent control group design. , 1975 .

[73]  R. Engle,et al.  Is working memory capacity task dependent , 1989 .

[74]  Arthur F Kramer,et al.  Testing the limits of cognitive plasticity in older adults: application to attentional control. , 2006, Acta psychologica.

[75]  R. Mayer,et al.  Domain specificity of spatial expertise: The case of video game players. , 2002 .

[76]  J. Bruner,et al.  The role of tutoring in problem solving. , 1976, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[77]  U. Polat,et al.  Enhancing the contrast sensitivity function through action video game training , 2009, Nature Neuroscience.

[78]  Peter J. Snyder,et al.  Immediate and delayed effects of cognitive interventions in healthy elderly: A review of current literature and future directions , 2009, Alzheimer's & Dementia.

[79]  M. D’Esposito.  Working memory. , 2008, Handbook of clinical neurology.

[80]  L. Goossens,et al.  Improving memory performance in the aged through mnemonic training: a meta-analytic study. , 1992, Psychology and aging.