Cognitive and Physical training for prevention of cognitive decline in the elderly: preliminary data of the Long Lasting Memories European project

Cognitive and Physical training for prevention of cognitive decline in the elderly: preliminary data of the Long Lasting Memories European project

A. Tsapanou, L. Margioti, I. Beratis, J. Papatriantafyllou ,V. Kamtsadeli, A. Nika,G. Tsilikopoulou, N. Kalfakis, P. Sakka, P. Bamidis, S.G. Papageorgiou

Objectives: Cognitive and physical training (CT & PT respectively) are recently proposed for the prevention of cognitive decline in the elderly and as a treatment option for patients with dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). However, their effectiveness remains controversial.

Methods: In the present study, in the context of a research program funded by the European Commission (the Long Lasting Memories project), we have implemented a 5 week program of combined CT and PT using a computer interface. The sessions were lasting for 2 hours and were run in a 5 days/week basis and were implemented in 3 community centers.

Subjects: Nineteen community dwelling people aged over 65, with average age 75,4 years (SD =8,4) and mean educational level of 11,7 years (SD=2,7), living in Athens. Eight subjects were normal, 8 had MCI, 1 had Parkinson‟s Disease (PD), 1 had Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) and 1 had Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). Subjects were assessed before and after the intervention with a neuropsychological battery including, among other tests, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), the Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A, TMT-B) and the Digit Span forward and backwards.

Results: A mixed between-within subjects‟ analysis of variance, with gender as the between-subjects factor, revealed a significant main effect of the intervention program (pre-intervention/post-intervention) on three neuropsychological measures. Significant improvement was observed on the TMT-B completion time (Wiks Lambda = 0.730, F(1,17)=6.300, p= 0.022), the CVLT recognition performance (Wiks Lambda = 0.749, F(1,17)=5.682, p= 0.029), and the number of repetitions while performing the CVLT (Wiks Lambda = 0.700, F(1,17)=7.276, p= 0.015). No significant effect of the intervention program was observed for the digit span score, both for the forward and the backwards condition.

Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the application of a combined CT and PT intervention program may have a positive impact on the executive and verbal memory functions in the elderly population.

 

Society of Applied Neurosciences, 3rd meeting, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2011  

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