Cognitive plasticity in people at risk for dementia: optimising the testing-the-limits-approach

A topic of great interest in gerontology research is the prediction of cognitive deterioration which marks the transition from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia. In this area, the term cognitive plasticity can be of great interest. We examined the utility of the Adaptive Figure Series Learning Test (ADAFI) to evoke cognitive plasticity and to show whether reduced plasticity can be found in people with MCI. In a pre-test-intervention-post-test design, intervention with the ADAFI was compared to an unspecific brain jogging task in MCI participants and healthy controls. A total of 42 subjects were included. Independent of mental health status only using the ADAFI led to pronounced improvements in post-test performances, but MCI participants profited less from the intervention with the ADAFI than healthy controls, that is, showed lower cognitive plasticity. Thus, the overlap in performance distributions between healthy participants and MCI individuals at pre-test was reduced at the time of post-test once the ADAFI had been given as intervention. The findings of the present article indicate that plasticity oriented information can be gained when the ADAFI is given as an intervention in a pre-test-training-post-test-design. The cognitive plasticity approach seems potentially useful for purposes of early identification of dementia.