Randomized trial on the effects of a combined physical/cognitive training in aged MCI subjects: the Train the Brain study
Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2017 papers
Abstract
Age-related cognitive impairment and dementia are an increasing societal burden. Epidemiological studies indicate that lifestyle factors, e.g. physical, cognitive and social activities, correlate with reduced dementia risk; moreover, positive effects on cognition of physical/cognitive training have been found in cognitively unimpaired elders. Less is known about effectiveness and action mechanisms of physical/cognitive training in elders already suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a population at high risk for dementia. We assessed in 113 MCI subjects aged 65-89 years, the efficacy of combined physical-cognitive training on cognitive decline, Gray Matter (GM) volume loss and Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) in hippocampus and parahippocampal areas, and on brain-blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) activity elicited by a cognitive task, measured by ADAS-Cog scale, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and fMRI, respectively, before and after 7 months of training vs. usual life. Cognitive status significantly decreased in MCI-no training and significantly increased in MCI-training subjects; training increased parahippocampal CBF, but no effect on GM volume loss was evident; BOLD activity increase, indicative of neural efficiency decline, was found only in MCI-no training subjects. These results show that a non pharmacological, multicomponent intervention improves cognitive status and indicators of brain health in MCI subjects.
Related Papers
- → Does combined cognitive training and physical activity training enhance cognitive abilities more than either alone? A four-condition randomized controlled trial among healthy older adults(2013)241 cited
- → Cognitive performance before and after the onset of subjective cognitive decline in old age(2015)172 cited
- → Transcranial electrical stimulation improves cognitive training effects in healthy elderly adults with low cognitive performance(2021)43 cited
- → Cognitive Decline Assessment: A Review From Medical Imaging Perspective(2021)11 cited
- → Toward Personalized Cognitive Training in Older Adults: A Pilot Investigation of the Effects of Baseline Performance and Age on Cognitive Training Outcomes(2023)3 cited