Inhibitory control training in healthy and highly educated older adults

Executive function training is considered a promising tool for delaying the natural effects of aging on cognition. However, there are still few studies that propose a unimodal intervention with a focus on inhibitory control, and none of them has studied the effect of this type of intervention on older adults (OA).

The aim of this study is to investigate the benefits of inhibitory control training in healthy OA by comparing the two assessment time points, namely, before and after training.

Twenty-seven participants were included after interview and checking the inclusion criteria. The training was based on the stop-signal paradigm and carried out in 21 sessions.

Participants performed better after training by reducing the false alarm error rate (i.e., for stop-signal trials), reducing omission error rate, showing an increase in hit rate, Go response time (i.e., for go-signal trials), stop-signal response time, and showing a decrease in the level of anxiety. The executive function training had no significant impact on the scores obtained in the complementary neuropsychological tests.

These results are consistent with previous studies that support the viability and effectiveness of cognitive intervention for executive functions in OA and suggest a positive effect of the intervention, which may be related to the learning experience of a new and challenging task.