Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2025
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Working Memory Training for Older Participants: A Control Group Training Regimen and Initial Intellectual Functioning Assessment
Published on: September 20, 2020
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Gamified working memory intervention enhances prefrontal neurocognitive plasticity during aging.
Ping Wang1, Zi-Xuan Zhou2, Peng Gao2
1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Psychology and Aging
|May 5, 2025
Summary
A new gamified working memory (WM) intervention significantly improved cognitive functions in older adults. This brain training enhanced WM, executive functions, and memory, showing potential for healthy brain aging.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Age-related cognitive decline significantly impacts working memory (WM).
- Traditional WM interventions show limited efficacy due to lack of engagement.
- Gamification offers a novel approach to enhance cognitive training for older adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a challenging gamified working memory (WM) intervention for older adults.
- To assess the intervention's impact on cognitive functions and neuroplasticity.
- To explore the role of the rostral prefrontal cortex (rPFC) in WM and aging.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-six older adults were randomized into a gamified WM intervention or active control group.
- Participants completed twelve 1-hour training sessions over 6 weeks.
- Cognitive assessments, structural MRI, and resting-state fMRI were conducted pre- and post-intervention.
Main Results:
- The intervention group showed significant improvements in WM, inhibitory control, visuospatial processing, and episodic memory.
- Increased cortical thickness and altered functional connectivity in the left frontal pole (rPFC) were observed.
- Changes in the rPFC correlated with enhanced WM performance, suggesting a protective role in brain aging.
Conclusions:
- Gamified WM intervention promotes broad neurocognitive benefits and plasticity in older adults.
- The rPFC is implicated in supporting WM and mitigating age-related cognitive decline.
- This intervention shows promise as a tool to combat neurocognitive decline in aging populations.
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