Objective: Recent research has supported the construction of a model of depression and anxiety in older adults ( > 60years), in which the decline in working memory with age is implicated in increasing propensity to engage in repetitive negative thinking, thereby predisposing older adults to anxiety and depression. The study detailed here intended to extend these research findings by exploring the efficacy and acceptability of a working memory intervention in older adults. Methods: The study employed a randomised multiple-baseline single case research design, in which six older adults participated in baseline assessment of mood, repetitive negative thinking and working memory. Participants then tracked their repetitive negative thinking daily throughout a baseline phase, the length of which was defined by the randomisation procedure. Following phase change, participants continued to rate their repetitive thinking daily, as well as engaging in a daily working memory training intervention. On completion of the intervention phase, outcome measures of mood, repetitive negative thinking and working memory were repeated. Full visual and statistical analysis of all data was undertaken to support exploration of the findings. Results: Results of the study indicated that that the working memory training program was unlikely to have elicited a significant impact upon participants’ working memory. However, two participants demonstrated reliable improvement in both repetitive thinking and mood. Analysis of relevant variables to predict the selective impact of the intervention was not fruitful, but may indicate that improvements in working memory underscore the improvements in thinking and mood, lending support to the proposed model. There appeared to be a small, non-significant decrease in daily repetitive negative thinking across five of the six participants. Conclusion: Further research is needed to identify factors that may predict response to working memory training within older adult populations. The research supports the on-going investigation of innovative working memory interventions within an older adult population, although results are not sufficiently robust to indicate wider adoption of these models within health services or as routine treatments for this population.

Estudos de treino de memória operacional (MO) para idosos mostraram que esta intervenção tem beneficío específico para a MO e, muitas vezes, efeito de generalização para outras habilidades cognitivas não treinadas. As questões sobre o impacto da escolaridade dos participantes, do número de sessões e da modalidade da intervenção (individual versus grupo) sobre o efeito do treino não foram respondidas em estudos anteriores. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: 1. traduzir e adaptar o protocolo de avaliação e treino de MO verbal desenvolvido por Borella et al. (2010); 2. examinar a influência da escolaridade dos participantes (quatro versus oito anos e mais), 3. da dose do treino (três versus seis sessões); e 4. da modalidade (individual versus grupo), sobre os efeitos do treino de MO verbal oferecido a idosos saudáveis. Para atingir esses objetivos, 129 idosos participaram de diferentes experimentos. O Experimento 1 (replicação) contou com 11 idosos randomizados na condição treino e na condição controle ativo, todos com escolaridade acima de oito anos. O Experimento 2 (efeito da escolaridade) incluiu os participantes do estudo de replicação que foram comparados à 7 idosos randomizados na condição treino e 13 na condição controle ativo, que tinham quatro anos de escolaridade, As intervenções nos Experimentos 1 e 2 foram realizadas em três sessões individuais. No Experimento 3, 23 idosos foram randomizados na condição treino com seis sessões e 27 na condição controle ativo com seis sessões, todos com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade, e esta nova amostra foi comparada às respectivas condições dos Experimentos 1 e 2 reunidas em uma única amostra. Por fim, os participantes do Experimento 1 foram comparados a uma nova amostra de idosos com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade,16 idosos randomizados na condição treino e na condição controle ativo, que realizaram o treino de três sessões em grupo. Os resultados do estudo de replicação mostraram efeitos semelhantes aos relatados por Borella et al. (2010), isto é, apenas a condição treino aumentou seu desempenho em testes de MO e em testes de função executiva e velocidade de processamento, mantidos após seis meses. Participantes com quatro anos de escolaridade mostraram ganhos semelhantes ao grupo treino com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade, no pós-teste e após seis meses. Os resultados sobre o número de sessões indicaram que o treino com três ou seis sessões gera ganhos cognitivos equivalentes, mas há maior possibilidade de generalização do efeito para outras variáveis no treino com seis sessões. Os resultados sobre a modalidade do treino (individual versus grupo) indicaram que não existe diferença entre as modalidades nas variáveis de desfecho no pós-teste e na avaliação de seguimento. Em conclusão, os experimentos sugeriram que o treino de MO desenvolvido por Borella et al. (2010) é eficaz em diferentes contextos sócio-culturais, entre participantes com escolaridade igual a quatro anos ou superior a oito anos. Os treinos realizados em três e seis sessões mostraram efeitos semelhantes para as variáveis de desfecho, assim como o treino realizado individualmente e em grupo, sugerindo que este treino em MO promove a plasticidade cognitiva dos participantes / Working memory (WM) training studies for older adults have shown specific benefit for WM and, often, generalization effect for other untrained cognitive abilities. Questions regarding the impact of schooling, number of sessions and intervention modality (individual versus group) on the training effect have not been answered in previous studies. This research aimed to: 1. translate and adapt the verbal WM training and evaluation protocol developed by Borella et al. (2010); 2. to examine the influence of schooling (four versus eight years and more), 3. dose of training (three vs. six sessions); and 4. modality (individual vs. group) on the effects of verbal WM training offered to healthy older adults. To answer these questions, 129 older adults participated of different experiments. Experiment 1 (replication) included 11 older adults randomized in the training condition and 15 in the active control condition, all with more than eight years of schooling. Experiment 2 (effect of schooling) included the participants in the replication study who were compared to the older adults with four years of schooling, composed of 7 older adults randomized in the training condition and 13 in the active control condition. The interventions in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 had three individual sessions. In Experiment 3, 23 older adults were randomized in the training condition with six sessions and 27 in the active control condition with six sessions, all with eight or more years of schooling, and this new sample was compared to the respective conditions of Experiments 1 and 2 united in a single sample. Finally, the sample of Experiment 1 was compared to a new sample of older adults with eight or more years of schooling, 16 older adults in the training condition and 17 in the active control condition, who underwent three group sessions. The results of the replication study showed effects similar to those reported by Borella et al. (2010), that is, only the training condition increased performance in WM, executive function and processing speed tests, maintained after six months. Participants with four years of schooling showed similar gains to the training group with eight or more years of schooling, in the post-test and after six months. The results indicated that training with three or six sessions generates equivalent cognitive gains, but there is a greater possibility of generalization of the effect in the six-session training. The results on the training modality (individual vs group) indicated that there is no difference between the modalities in the outcome variables in post-test and follow-up evaluation. In conclusion, the experiments suggested that the WM training developed by Borella et al. (2010) is effective in different socio-cultural contexts, among participants with schooling equal to or greater than eight years. The three and six sessions showed similar effects for the outcome variables, as well as individual and group training, suggested that this WM training promove a cognitive plasticity on participants

Crianças e adolescentes com Transtornos Mentais apresentam déficits atencionais. Na literatura encontram-se estudos de treino cognitivo com TDAH que sugerem melhoras nos testes neuropsicológicos, porém, sem generalização dos benefícios para outros contextos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os resultados de um Programa de Estimulação da Atenção (PEA) estruturado com treino cognitivo da atenção, psicoeducação e orientação aos pais de crianças e adolescentes que realizavam tratamento psiquiátrico e apresentavam queixas de atenção.Participaram deste estudo 29 crianças e adolescentes (8-17 anos) organizados em dois grupos: Experimental-GE (n=17), submetidos a 10 sessões de treino cognitivo associados à psicoeducação e orientação de pais / responsáveis e Grupo Controle-GC (n=12), que receberam apenas o treino cognitivo (10 sessões). Foi aplicada a escala MTASNAP- IV nos pais, professores e pacientes e uma bateria neuropsicológica nas fasespré e pós-intervenção. Os resultados evidenciaram melhoras no desempenho dos testes nos dois grupos após o treino cognitivo de atenção. No entanto, o GE apresentou melhora significativa no teste de atenção concentrada, com diminuição das omissões e aumento de estímulos detectados, indicando maior precisão e menos erros. Além disso, o GE também apresentou maior redução dos sintomas de desatenção, hiperatividade e comportamento opositor desafiador de acordo com Escala MTA-SNAP-IV. Esse dado representa um novo achado para literatura, já que até então os trabalhos existentes indicavam, apenas, os benefícios do treino cognitivo para os testes neuropsicológicos, sem mostrar a generalização dos benefícios para outros ambientes, inclusive na diminuição dos sintomas de desatenção ao levar em conta a percepção dos responsáveis. Acredita-se que os resultados alcançados indicam um quadro promissor em termos de formas de intervenções que auxiliem no tratamento dos Transtornos Mentais com queixas de atenção / Children and adolescents with Mental Disorders present attention deficits. In the literature, there are studies of cognitive training with ADHD that suggest improvements in neuropsychological tests, however, without generalization of benefits to other contexts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of an Attention Stimulation Program (ASP) structured with cognitive training of attention, psychoeducation and orientation to parents of children and adolescents who performed psychiatric treatment and presented complaints of attention.A total of 29 children and adolescents (8-17 years old) participated in this study organized in two groups: Experimental-GE (n = 17), undergone 10 sessions of cognitive training associated with psychoeducation and orientation of parents / guardians and Control Group-CG (n = 12), who received only the cognitive training (10 sessions).The MTASNAP- IV scale was administered in the parents, teachers and patients and a neuropsychological battery in the pre- and post-intervention phases. The results showed improvements in the performance of the tests in both groups after cognitive attention training. However, the GE showed a significant improvement in the concentrated attention test, with a decrease in omissions and an increase in detected stimuli, indicating greater precision and less errors. In addition, GE also showed greater reduction of the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and oppositional defiant behavior according to the MTA-SNAP-IV Scale. This data represents a new finding for literature, since until then the existing studies only indicated the benefits of cognitive training for neuropsychological tests, without showing the generalization of the benefits to other environments, including the reduction of the symptoms of inattention by taking into account the perception of those responsible.It is believed that the results indicate a promising scenario regarding the forms of interventions that assist in the treatment of Mental Disorders with complaints of attention

Les personnes atteintes de troubles cognitifs légers (i.e., Mild Cognitive Impairment, MCI) souffrent d’un déclin cognitif, pouvant engendrer des troubles exécutifs et fonctionnels, pénalisants dans leurs activités de la vie quotidienne. Face à ces déficits, plusieurs programmes d’intervention de stimulations physique ou cognitive montrent des résultats encourageants sur les performances de ces profils. / People with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) suffer from a cognitive decline, which engender executive and functional disorders, punishing in their activities of the everyday life. Given these deficits, several programs of physical or cognitive stimulations show encouraging results on cognitive performances of these profiles.

Since antiquity, philosophers, theologians, and scientists have been interested in human memory; however, researchers today are still working to understand the capabilities, boundaries, and architecture. While the storage capabilities of long-term memory are seemingly unlimited (Bahrick, 1984), working memory, or the ability to maintain and manipulate information held in memory, seems to have stringent capacity limits (e.g., Cowan, 2001). Individual differences, however, do exist and these differences can often predict performance on a wide variety of tasks (cf. Engle, 2001). Recently, researchers have promoted the enticing possibility that simple behavioral training can expand the limits of working memory which indeed may also lead to improvements on other cognitive processes as well (cf. Morrison&Chein, 2011). The current study investigated this possibility. Recommendations from the skill training literature (cf. Schneider, 1985) were incorporated to create optimized verbal and spatial working memory training tasks. Significant performance improvements were evident across eight days of cognitive training using verbal and spatial adaptive n-back procedures. Training-related improvements were also evident for some untrained measures of visual short-term memory, attentional control, and working memory. These training effects, however, were not universal. Other measures of visual short-term memory and attentional control, as well as measures of fluid intelligence were unaffected by training.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-50).

Crianças e adolescentes com Transtornos Mentais apresentam déficits atencionais. Na literatura encontram-se estudos de treino cognitivo com TDAH que sugerem melhoras nos testes neuropsicológicos, porém, sem generalização dos benefícios para outros contextos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os resultados de um Programa de Estimulação da Atenção (PEA) estruturado com treino cognitivo da atenção, psicoeducação e orientação aos pais de crianças e adolescentes que realizavam tratamento psiquiátrico e apresentavam queixas de atenção.Participaram deste estudo 29 crianças e adolescentes (8-17 anos) organizados em dois grupos: Experimental-GE (n=17), submetidos a 10 sessões de treino cognitivo associados à psicoeducação e orientação de pais / responsáveis e Grupo Controle-GC (n=12), que receberam apenas o treino cognitivo (10 sessões). Foi aplicada a escala MTASNAP- IV nos pais, professores e pacientes e uma bateria neuropsicológica nas fasespré e pós-intervenção. Os resultados evidenciaram melhoras no desempenho dos testes nos dois grupos após o treino cognitivo de atenção. No entanto, o GE apresentou melhora significativa no teste de atenção concentrada, com diminuição das omissões e aumento de estímulos detectados, indicando maior precisão e menos erros. Além disso, o GE também apresentou maior redução dos sintomas de desatenção, hiperatividade e comportamento opositor desafiador de acordo com Escala MTA-SNAP-IV. Esse dado representa um novo achado para literatura, já que até então os trabalhos existentes indicavam, apenas, os benefícios do treino cognitivo para os testes neuropsicológicos, sem mostrar a generalização dos benefícios para outros ambientes, inclusive na diminuição dos sintomas de desatenção ao levar em conta a percepção dos responsáveis. Acredita-se que os resultados alcançados indicam um quadro promissor em termos de formas de intervenções que auxiliem no tratamento dos Transtornos Mentais com queixas de atenção / Children and adolescents with Mental Disorders present attention deficits. In the literature, there are studies of cognitive training with ADHD that suggest improvements in neuropsychological tests, however, without generalization of benefits to other contexts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of an Attention Stimulation Program (ASP) structured with cognitive training of attention, psychoeducation and orientation to parents of children and adolescents who performed psychiatric treatment and presented complaints of attention.A total of 29 children and adolescents (8-17 years old) participated in this study organized in two groups: Experimental-GE (n = 17), undergone 10 sessions of cognitive training associated with psychoeducation and orientation of parents / guardians and Control Group-CG (n = 12), who received only the cognitive training (10 sessions).The MTASNAP- IV scale was administered in the parents, teachers and patients and a neuropsychological battery in the pre- and post-intervention phases. The results showed improvements in the performance of the tests in both groups after cognitive attention training. However, the GE showed a significant improvement in the concentrated attention test, with a decrease in omissions and an increase in detected stimuli, indicating greater precision and less errors. In addition, GE also showed greater reduction of the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and oppositional defiant behavior according to the MTA-SNAP-IV Scale. This data represents a new finding for literature, since until then the existing studies only indicated the benefits of cognitive training for neuropsychological tests, without showing the generalization of the benefits to other environments, including the reduction of the symptoms of inattention by taking into account the perception of those responsible.It is believed that the results indicate a promising scenario regarding the forms of interventions that assist in the treatment of Mental Disorders with complaints of attention

Estudos de treino de memória operacional (MO) para idosos mostraram que esta intervenção tem beneficío específico para a MO e, muitas vezes, efeito de generalização para outras habilidades cognitivas não treinadas. As questões sobre o impacto da escolaridade dos participantes, do número de sessões e da modalidade da intervenção (individual versus grupo) sobre o efeito do treino não foram respondidas em estudos anteriores. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: 1. traduzir e adaptar o protocolo de avaliação e treino de MO verbal desenvolvido por Borella et al. (2010); 2. examinar a influência da escolaridade dos participantes (quatro versus oito anos e mais), 3. da dose do treino (três versus seis sessões); e 4. da modalidade (individual versus grupo), sobre os efeitos do treino de MO verbal oferecido a idosos saudáveis. Para atingir esses objetivos, 129 idosos participaram de diferentes experimentos. O Experimento 1 (replicação) contou com 11 idosos randomizados na condição treino e na condição controle ativo, todos com escolaridade acima de oito anos. O Experimento 2 (efeito da escolaridade) incluiu os participantes do estudo de replicação que foram comparados à 7 idosos randomizados na condição treino e 13 na condição controle ativo, que tinham quatro anos de escolaridade, As intervenções nos Experimentos 1 e 2 foram realizadas em três sessões individuais. No Experimento 3, 23 idosos foram randomizados na condição treino com seis sessões e 27 na condição controle ativo com seis sessões, todos com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade, e esta nova amostra foi comparada às respectivas condições dos Experimentos 1 e 2 reunidas em uma única amostra. Por fim, os participantes do Experimento 1 foram comparados a uma nova amostra de idosos com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade,16 idosos randomizados na condição treino e na condição controle ativo, que realizaram o treino de três sessões em grupo. Os resultados do estudo de replicação mostraram efeitos semelhantes aos relatados por Borella et al. (2010), isto é, apenas a condição treino aumentou seu desempenho em testes de MO e em testes de função executiva e velocidade de processamento, mantidos após seis meses. Participantes com quatro anos de escolaridade mostraram ganhos semelhantes ao grupo treino com oito ou mais anos de escolaridade, no pós-teste e após seis meses. Os resultados sobre o número de sessões indicaram que o treino com três ou seis sessões gera ganhos cognitivos equivalentes, mas há maior possibilidade de generalização do efeito para outras variáveis no treino com seis sessões. Os resultados sobre a modalidade do treino (individual versus grupo) indicaram que não existe diferença entre as modalidades nas variáveis de desfecho no pós-teste e na avaliação de seguimento. Em conclusão, os experimentos sugeriram que o treino de MO desenvolvido por Borella et al. (2010) é eficaz em diferentes contextos sócio-culturais, entre participantes com escolaridade igual a quatro anos ou superior a oito anos. Os treinos realizados em três e seis sessões mostraram efeitos semelhantes para as variáveis de desfecho, assim como o treino realizado individualmente e em grupo, sugerindo que este treino em MO promove a plasticidade cognitiva dos participantes / Working memory (WM) training studies for older adults have shown specific benefit for WM and, often, generalization effect for other untrained cognitive abilities. Questions regarding the impact of schooling, number of sessions and intervention modality (individual versus group) on the training effect have not been answered in previous studies. This research aimed to: 1. translate and adapt the verbal WM training and evaluation protocol developed by Borella et al. (2010); 2. to examine the influence of schooling (four versus eight years and more), 3. dose of training (three vs. six sessions); and 4. modality (individual vs. group) on the effects of verbal WM training offered to healthy older adults. To answer these questions, 129 older adults participated of different experiments. Experiment 1 (replication) included 11 older adults randomized in the training condition and 15 in the active control condition, all with more than eight years of schooling. Experiment 2 (effect of schooling) included the participants in the replication study who were compared to the older adults with four years of schooling, composed of 7 older adults randomized in the training condition and 13 in the active control condition. The interventions in Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 had three individual sessions. In Experiment 3, 23 older adults were randomized in the training condition with six sessions and 27 in the active control condition with six sessions, all with eight or more years of schooling, and this new sample was compared to the respective conditions of Experiments 1 and 2 united in a single sample. Finally, the sample of Experiment 1 was compared to a new sample of older adults with eight or more years of schooling, 16 older adults in the training condition and 17 in the active control condition, who underwent three group sessions. The results of the replication study showed effects similar to those reported by Borella et al. (2010), that is, only the training condition increased performance in WM, executive function and processing speed tests, maintained after six months. Participants with four years of schooling showed similar gains to the training group with eight or more years of schooling, in the post-test and after six months. The results indicated that training with three or six sessions generates equivalent cognitive gains, but there is a greater possibility of generalization of the effect in the six-session training. The results on the training modality (individual vs group) indicated that there is no difference between the modalities in the outcome variables in post-test and follow-up evaluation. In conclusion, the experiments suggested that the WM training developed by Borella et al. (2010) is effective in different socio-cultural contexts, among participants with schooling equal to or greater than eight years. The three and six sessions showed similar effects for the outcome variables, as well as individual and group training, suggested that this WM training promove a cognitive plasticity on participants

The negative effects of cognitive decline and impairment can be devastating for older adults and their families, and extremely costly for the healthcare system and the society. Cognitive training aims to maintain or improve cognition by utilizing repetitive tasks that target specific cognitive skills. The majority of cognitive training studies in healthy older adults involved home-based, individual, computerized approach or onsite, group, paper-and-pencil format. These approaches may not be suitable for individuals with serious health or mobility issues, caregiving responsibilities, limited transportation, or limited computer or internet access. A novel, home-based, self-administered cognitive training intervention was developed to address these barriers. It involves two older adults taking turns to administer paper-and-pencil tasks to one another. The purpose of the study was to evaluate feasibility and participant acceptability of this novel approach to cognitive training. Eighteen participants (9 dyads) 65-91 years (M = 75.94, SD = 7.66) underwent assessment and began intervention. Assessment included measures of cognitive skills and self-reported quality of life, health status, and daily functioning. Four dyads were married couples who had sessions at home. Other dyads met at various public locations and included friends, neighbors, or unfamiliar older adults connected by the researcher. Fourteen participants (7 dyads) completed cognitive training intervention that included 9-24 sessions (M = 15.14, SD = 5.30) over 4-21 weeks (M = 12.21, SD = 5.44), post-intervention assessment, and detailed interviews. Quantitative data demonstrated that the sample did not decline on any cognitive measures and exhibited improvement on visuospatial skills and delayed visual memory (Cohen’s d = .67 & -1.10). Additional analyses revealed that the results were mainly attributable to improvement in females (Cohen’s d = -1.84 & -1.35), who demonstrated weaknesses in these cognitive skills at baseline. The participants reported that the dyadic approach was flexible, convenient, and enjoyable. They also provided valuable feedback and suggestions for modifying the content and other aspects of the intervention. The findings suggest that dyadic cognitive training is feasible and well-received by older adults. Those with weaknesses in cognitive domains may show larger gains in respective domains and benefit most from cognitive training.

The diploma thesis deals with the topic of neurocognitive changes in schizophrenia and the possibility of non-pharmacological interventions. It first summarizes current knowledge about schizophrenia, in connection with interdisciplinary overlaps enabling orientation in the topic. The thesis describes the individual cognitive disorders that are part of the disease. The main focus of the work is to inform about the possibilities of cognitive remediation. We focus on cognitive training and transcranial direct current stimulation in more detail. In particular, the use of stimulation methods has not yet been described in Czech literature. The work should thus contribute to the mapping of this issue. The theoretical part is followed by an empirical presentation of the results of our pilot study. In the study, we use a quantitative-qualitative methodology to map objective and subjective changes in cognitive functions before and after the application of stimulation and cognitive training in patients with schizophrenia. We included 9 patients who met the entry criteria. The results of the quantitative part did not reveal significant changes after the application of active tDCS stimulation in combination with cognitive training. The qualitative part of the study described subjectively perceived changes and...