Inhibitory control training in healthy and highly educated older adults

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Gerontology
• Psychology

Background:

• Executive function training shows promise for mitigating age-related cognitive decline.
• Limited research exists on unimodal inhibitory control interventions, especially for older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the benefits of inhibitory control training in healthy older adults.
• To compare cognitive and anxiety measures before and after the intervention.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-seven healthy older adults participated.
• Training utilized the stop-signal paradigm over 21 sessions.

Main Results:

• Improved performance on stop-signal trials (reduced false alarms) and go-signal trials (faster response time).
• Reduced omission errors, increased hit rates, and decreased anxiety levels observed.
• No significant impact on complementary neuropsychological test scores.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive intervention for executive functions is viable and effective in older adults.
• Inhibitory control training positively impacts cognitive performance and anxiety.
• Observed benefits may stem from engaging with a novel and challenging task.