Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain
Increasing research has evidenced that our brain retains a capacity to change in response to experience until late adulthood. This implies that cognitive training can possibly ameliorate age-associated cognitive decline by inducing training-specific neural plastic changes at both neural and behavior...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Neural Plasticity |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/535618 |
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| _version_ | 1832549387297882112 |
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| author | Natalie T. Y. Leung Helena M. K. Tam Leung W. Chu Timothy C. Y. Kwok Felix Chan Linda C. W. Lam Jean Woo Tatia M. C. Lee |
| author_facet | Natalie T. Y. Leung Helena M. K. Tam Leung W. Chu Timothy C. Y. Kwok Felix Chan Linda C. W. Lam Jean Woo Tatia M. C. Lee |
| author_sort | Natalie T. Y. Leung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Increasing research has evidenced that our brain retains a capacity to change in response to experience until late adulthood. This implies that cognitive training can possibly ameliorate age-associated cognitive decline by inducing training-specific neural plastic changes at both neural and behavioral levels. This longitudinal study examined the behavioral effects of a systematic thirteen-week cognitive training program on attention and working memory of older adults who were at risk of cognitive decline. These older adults were randomly assigned to the Cognitive Training Group (n=109) and the Active Control Group (n=100). Findings clearly indicated that training induced improvement in auditory and visual-spatial attention and working memory. The training effect was specific to the experience provided because no significant difference in verbal and visual-spatial memory between the two groups was observed. This pattern of findings is consistent with the prediction and the principle of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Findings of our study provided further support to the notion that the neural plastic potential continues until older age. The baseline cognitive status did not correlate with pre- versus posttraining changes to any cognitive variables studied, suggesting that the initial cognitive status may not limit the neuroplastic potential of the brain at an old age. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7b7e8f327b3446ecb747cb91dea1fa1a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-5904 1687-5443 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neural Plasticity |
| spelling | doaj-art-7b7e8f327b3446ecb747cb91dea1fa1a2025-02-03T06:11:24ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432015-01-01201510.1155/2015/535618535618Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging BrainNatalie T. Y. Leung0Helena M. K. Tam1Leung W. Chu2Timothy C. Y. Kwok3Felix Chan4Linda C. W. Lam5Jean Woo6Tatia M. C. Lee7Laboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongLaboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongFung Yiu King Hospital, Hong KongDepartment of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongLaboratory of Neuropsychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongIncreasing research has evidenced that our brain retains a capacity to change in response to experience until late adulthood. This implies that cognitive training can possibly ameliorate age-associated cognitive decline by inducing training-specific neural plastic changes at both neural and behavioral levels. This longitudinal study examined the behavioral effects of a systematic thirteen-week cognitive training program on attention and working memory of older adults who were at risk of cognitive decline. These older adults were randomly assigned to the Cognitive Training Group (n=109) and the Active Control Group (n=100). Findings clearly indicated that training induced improvement in auditory and visual-spatial attention and working memory. The training effect was specific to the experience provided because no significant difference in verbal and visual-spatial memory between the two groups was observed. This pattern of findings is consistent with the prediction and the principle of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. Findings of our study provided further support to the notion that the neural plastic potential continues until older age. The baseline cognitive status did not correlate with pre- versus posttraining changes to any cognitive variables studied, suggesting that the initial cognitive status may not limit the neuroplastic potential of the brain at an old age.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/535618 |
| spellingShingle | Natalie T. Y. Leung Helena M. K. Tam Leung W. Chu Timothy C. Y. Kwok Felix Chan Linda C. W. Lam Jean Woo Tatia M. C. Lee Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain Neural Plasticity |
| title | Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain |
| title_full | Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain |
| title_fullStr | Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain |
| title_short | Neural Plastic Effects of Cognitive Training on Aging Brain |
| title_sort | neural plastic effects of cognitive training on aging brain |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/535618 |
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