No Evidence for Improved Associative Memory Performance Following Process-Based Associative Memory Training in Older Adults.

Studies attempting to improve episodic memory performance with strategy instructions and training have had limited success in older adults: their training gains are limited in comparison to those of younger adults and do not generalize to untrained tasks and contexts. This limited success has been partly attributed to age-related impairments in associative binding of information into coherent episodes. We therefore investigated potential training and transfer effects of process-based associative memory training (i.

Transfer after process-based object-location memory training in healthy older adults.

A substantial part of age-related episodic memory decline has been attributed to the decreasing ability of older adults to encode and retrieve associations among simultaneously processed information units from long-term memory. In addition, this ability seems to share unique variance with reasoning. In this study, we therefore examined whether process-based training of the ability to learn and remember associations has the potential to induce transfer effects to untrained episodic memory and reasoning tasks in healthy older adults (60-75 years).

Multi-domain training enhances attentional control.

Multi-domain training potentially increases the likelihood of overlap in processing components with transfer tasks and everyday life, and hence is a promising training approach for older adults. To empirically test this, 84 healthy older adults aged 64 to 75 years were randomly assigned to one of three single-domain training conditions (inhibition, visuomotor function, spatial navigation) or to the simultaneous training of all three cognitive functions (multi-domain training condition). All participants trained on an iPad at home for 50 training sessions.

Brain regions involved in subprocesses of small-space episodic object-location memory: a systematic review of lesion and functional neuroimaging studies.

Object-location memory (OLM) enables us to keep track of the locations of objects in our environment. The neurocognitive model of OLM (Postma, A., Kessels, R.

Multi-domain training in healthy old age: Hotel Plastisse as an iPad-based serious game to systematically compare multi-domain and single-domain training.

Finding effective training interventions for declining cognitive abilities in healthy aging is of great relevance, especially in view of the demographic development. Since it is assumed that transfer from the trained to untrained domains is more likely to occur when training conditions and transfer measures share a common underlying process, multi-domain training of several cognitive functions should increase the likelihood of such an overlap. In the first part, we give an overview of the literature showing that cognitive training using complex tasks, such as video games, leisure activities, or practicing a series of cognitive tasks, has shown promising results regarding transfer to a number of cognitive functions.

Does working memory training have to be adaptive?

This study tested the common assumption that, to be most effective, working memory (WM) training should be adaptive (i.e., task difficulty is adjusted to individual performance).

Instruments for comprehensive needs assessment in individuals with cognitive complaints, mild cognitive impairment or dementia: a systematic review.

Objective: In recent years, it has become more common to complement the objective assessment of symptoms with an assessment of individual needs patterns that are created by the individual pattern of symptoms. However, little is known on needs patterns in individuals with subjective cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Thus, on the basis of an analysis of the development of needs in the course of cognitive decline, we provide an overview of the existing needs assessment instruments with respect to feasibility, validity and reliability.

Potentials and limits of plasticity induced by working memory training in old-old age.

Background: Old-old age (80+ years) is associated with substantial cognitive decline. In this population, training-induced cognitive plasticity has rarely been studied. While earlier findings on strategy trainings suggested reduced training gains in old-old age, recent results of an extensive process-based working memory (WM) training have been more positive.

Plasticity and imaging research in healthy aging: core ideas and profile of the International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center (INAPIC).

The key objective of the International Normal Aging and Plasticity Imaging Center (INAPIC) at the University of Zürich is to facilitate research on normal healthy behavioral and neural development and aging to explore the potential for plasticity and compensation across the lifespan. The INAPIC invites international research groups to submit proposals for collaborative projects on these subjects. It is unique in Europe in giving partner groups 'plug and play' access to state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques, technical support, and assistance in data collection.

Measuring compensation and its plasticity across the lifespan.

Purpose: The present paper integrates two important aspects when studying compensation: (1) the knowledge about specific compensational mechanisms and (2) the consideration of lifelong changes in these mechanisms (i.e., plasticity of compensation).

Motor brain regions are involved in the encoding of delayed intentions: a fMRI study.

In studies of prospective memory, recall of the content of delayed intentions is normally excellent, probably because they contain actions that have to be enacted at a later time. Action words encoded for later enactment are more accessible from memory than those encoded for later verbal report [Freeman, J.E.

What do subjective cognitive complaints in persons with aging-associated cognitive decline reflect?

Background: Subjective cognitive complaints have been included in diagnostic concepts such as Aging-Associated Cognitive Decline (AACD) aiming to identify older adults with cognitive impairments at high risk of developing dementia. Although several studies in normal aging have found that subjective cognitive complaints are related to depressive affect and personality factors, little is known as to whether this is also true for older adults with AACD.

Methods: In 123 older adults diagnosed with AACD and 291 controls, the role of actual cognitive performance, depressive affect, neuroticism and conscientiousness in predicting subjective cognitive complaints was investigated.

Planning and realization of complex intentions in traumatic brain injury and normal aging.

The realization of delayed intentions (i.e., prospective memory) is a highly complex process composed of four phases: intention formation, retention, re-instantiation, and execution.