Improving cognitive performance through adaptive audiovisual perceptual training in community-dwelling older adults

Age-related declines in visual and auditory function are closely linked to cognitive deterioration in older adults. While cross-modal audiovisual training has shown potential for enhancing perceptual sensitivity, its underlying neural mechanisms and transfer effects on higher-order cognitive functions remain largely underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the effects of adaptive audiovisual perceptual training (APT) on cognitive performance and neural activation in older adults.

Ninety-two older adults (mean age = 66.3 years, range = 60-77) were assigned to a training group (TG; n = 47) or a control group (CG; n = 45). The TG completed a 7-day APT program, while the CG received no intervention. All participants underwent pretest and posttest assessments, including a training task, audiovisual discrimination task, attention network test (ANT), and audiovisual associative 2-back.

Training led to significant behavioral improvements in the TG, as reflected by higher accuracy and faster responses. At the neural level, the TG exhibited enhanced P3 amplitudes over parietal region in the training task, increased P3-AVI amplitudes over central and centro-parietal regions in the audiovisual discrimination task, greater P3 amplitudes over parietal region in the ANT, and increased P2 amplitudes over frontal, fronto-central, and central regions in the 2-back task.

These findings demonstrate that adaptive APT effectively enhances audiovisual integration, attentional processing, and working memory in older adults. The results highlight its potential as a non-pharmacological intervention for mitigating age-related cognitive decline.