Evaluating Successful Aging in Older People Who Participated in Computerized or Paper-and-Pencil Memory Training: The Memoria Mejor Program

Abstract

Background. The evaluation of successful aging includes objective criteria to measure cognitive function and psychological well-being and levels of functional capacity needed to perform daily activities related to the preservation of autonomy. In addition, the emergence of computerized cognitive training programs has allowed us to use a new class of tools to verify the theoretical postulates of neural plasticity in aging. Objective. The present study investigates subjective and objective criteria of successful aging in healthy older adults participating in a memory training program offered as two versions: computer and paper-and-pencil. Method. Fifty-four healthy older adult participants recruited for the study were organized into two training groups. Group 1 (G1) used the computer program and Group 2 (G2) used the paper-and-pencil program. Results. The analysis revealed no significant differences in psychological well-being between the two training groups. However, the groups did differ significantly in objective evaluations of successful aging, as measured by attention and everyday memory, and brain activity as measured by sLORETA, with G1 outperforming G2 on both measures. Conclusion. Computerized memory training programs show promise for restoring cognitive and cerebral functioning in older adults, and consequently, may be better suited to achieving the objective criteria of successful aging than paper-and-pencil memory training programs. However, this conclusion should be taken with caution since differences in age and educational level may have influenced the results.

Revisiting Happiness and Well-Being in Later Life from Interdisciplinary Age-Studies Perspectives

“…High levels of subjective well-being, such as feelings of happiness, enjoyment, personal aspirations and achievement can increase physical health and longevity [16], which leads to the conclusion that happier people live longer and better lives [17]. In fact, “wellness is defined as the experience of happiness or satisfaction, challenges that require effort to overcome them, and the achievement of valuable goals” [18] (p. 1). In other words, our ability to overcome stress is one of the primary determinants of longevity and quality of life.…”

Artificial Cognitive Systems Applied in Executive Function Stimulation and Rehabilitation Programs: A Systematic Review

“…Some CCTs integrated the virtual reality paradigm in healthy older adults, such as the VR-CS program, which showed favorable effects on general cognition and executive functions, particularly attention [ 200 ]. These programs were also shown to be promising in patients with mild cognitive impairment, such as Job Stimulator combined with a physical activity program, which showed significant improvements in executive function, single-task, and dual-motor gait performance [ 201 ].…”

Emerging Cognitive Intervention Technologies to Meet the Needs of an Aging Population: A Systematic Review

“…Among the 24 studies, all the participants were older adults. However, 15 studies had healthy older adults (Verhagen et al, 1998; Tapus et al, 2007; Finn and McDonald, 2011; Gross et al, 2011; Herrera et al, 2012; McAvinue et al, 2013; Strenziok et al, 2013; Gooding et al, 2015; Hyer et al, 2015; Walton et al, 2015; Marusic et al, 2016; Nouchi et al, 2016; Toril et al, 2016; Yeo et al, 2018) 3 , 8 studies (Peretz et al, 2011; Rose et al, 2012; Ballesteros et al, 2014; Corbett et al, 2015; Styliadis et al, 2015; Marusic et al, 2016; Simon et al, 2018; Requena and Rebok, 2019) used participants with MCI and 1 study (Zhang et al, 2019) had participants with subclinical cognitive decline. The age range of these studies varied between 55 and 90, with only 1 study (Finn and McDonald, 2011) with an age range not provided, though they did identify the participants as “older adults.” The duration of interventions was between 14 days and 6 months, with 1–3 sessions per week on an average.…”

“…Attention can be understood as the process by which an individual directs or focuses on specific auditory or visual stimuli in the environment. There were 10 studies (Finn and McDonald, 2011; Herrera et al, 2012; Ballesteros et al, 2014; Corbett et al, 2015; Gooding et al, 2015; Lin et al, 2016; Marusic et al, 2016; Yeo et al, 2018; Requena and Rebok, 2019; Zhang et al, 2019) which included attention as one of the focused domains. Attention was seen to improve significantly in 8 studies (Finn and McDonald, 2011; Herrera et al, 2012; Ballesteros et al, 2014; Corbett et al, 2015; Gooding et al, 2015; Lin et al, 2016; Marusic et al, 2016; Requena and Rebok, 2019) while 2 studies (Yeo et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2019) found no improvement.…”

“…In our shortlisted studies, the cognitive training can be categorized as self-designed cognitive training, custom-made for the program (Barnes et al, 2009; Herrera et al, 2012; Rose et al, 2012; Bozoki et al, 2013; McAvinue et al, 2013; Corbett et al, 2015; Gooding et al, 2015; Marusic et al, 2016; Nouchi et al, 2016; Yeo et al, 2018; Requena and Rebok, 2019; Zhang et al, 2019), and as commercially-available training programs and video games (Finn and McDonald, 2011; Peretz et al, 2011; Miller et al, 2013; Strenziok et al, 2013; Ballesteros et al, 2014; Hughes et al, 2014; Hyer et al, 2015; Styliadis et al, 2015; Walton et al, 2015; Lin et al, 2016; Toril et al, 2016; Simon et al, 2018). Based on this review, self-designed cognitive training interventions demonstrated an improvement in processing speed, working memory, executive function, visual spatial ability, and attention.…”