Working memory training efficacy in COPD: the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Cogtrain trial.

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Cognitive impairment is common in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
• Factors contributing to cognitive decline in COPD include sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and stress.
• Working memory training (WMT) is a potential intervention to improve cognitive function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of WMT in improving cognitive performance in COPD patients.
• To evaluate WMT's impact on healthy lifestyle behaviors and cognitive stress susceptibility.
• To determine if WMT can reverse negative lifestyle and cognitive effects in COPD.

Main Methods:

• A 12-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (Cogtrain) with a subsequent 12-week maintenance phase.
• Participants underwent 30 active or sham WMT sessions followed by 12 maintenance sessions.
• Cognitive performance, lifestyle recall, physical capacity, dietary quality, and stress susceptibility were measured at baseline and post-phases.

Main Results:

• WMT significantly improved performance on trained tasks, with effects sustained post-maintenance.
• Only one memory measure improved after the initial phase, and one reaction time measure after the maintenance phase.
• No significant improvements were observed in overall cognitive performance, physical capacity, lifestyle recall, psychological well-being, or stress susceptibility.

Conclusions:

• WMT enhances performance on specific trained tasks in COPD patients.
• WMT does not lead to improvements in overall cognitive function, healthy lifestyle behaviors, or cognitive stress susceptibility in this population.
• The findings suggest WMT's limited efficacy for broad cognitive and lifestyle improvements in COPD.