Long-term effects of mnemonic training in community-dwelling older adults

The purpose of our study was to investigate the long-term effect of mnemonic training on memory performance in older adults. Five years after participation in a mnemonic training study, we followed-up 112 community-dwelling older adults, 60 years of age and over. Delayed recall of a word list was assessed prior to, and immediately following mnemonic training, and at the 5-year follow-up. Overall, there was no significant difference between word recall prior to training and that exhibited at follow-up. However, pre-training performance, gain scores in performance immediately post-training and use of the mnemonic predicted performance at follow-up. Individuals who self-reported using the mnemonic exhibited the highest performance overall, with scores significantly higher than at pre-training. Our findings suggest that mnemonic training has long-term benefits for some older adults, particularly those who continue to employ the mnemonic.