Training di memoria di lavoro nella popolazione anziana: effetti di generalizzazione e mantenimento dei benefici

A growing number of studies is focusing on working memory training procedures to delay age-related decline. However, these studies are very heterogeneous and can not be able to determine which factors contribute to the maintenance of training’s benefits and to transfert effects. Six studies were conducted for better understand the role of participans’ age (studies 1-3), the role of the modality (verbal vs visual-spatial) exercited (4-5-6). Moreover, it was explored if these trainings are useful for improving cognitive ability in Mild Cognitive Impairment (studies 2) and if they can lead transfer effects also in ability of everyday life. The results showed that these working memory trainings induced an increase of working memory’s performance and benefits on ability strictly related with trained abilities. In verbal working memory trainings were also obtained far transfer effects in experimental tasks and in tasks that measure ability related to everyday life; these effects were also maintained over time. The benefit obtained with verbal training’s procedure, instead with visual-spatial procedure, migth be due not only to the procedures applied but also to the greater familiarity that they present with these stimuli. Future researches should take care about these aspects. It was also demonstrated that the old-old (>75 years old) and young old alduls with mild cognitive impairment improved after this training, although transfer effects were limited. In these cases it migth be useful to modify the training procedure following the specific requests of this target of people

Training di memoria di lavoro nella popolazione anziana: effetti di generalizzazione e mantenimento dei benefici

A growing number of studies is focusing on working memory training procedures to delay age-related decline. However, these studies are very heterogeneous and can not be able to determine which factors contribute to the maintenance of training’s benefits and to transfert effects. Six studies were conducted for better understand the role of participans’ age (studies 1-3), the role of the modality (verbal vs visual-spatial) exercited (4-5-6). Moreover, it was explored if these trainings are useful for improving cognitive ability in Mild Cognitive Impairment (studies 2) and if they can lead transfer effects also in ability of everyday life. The results showed that these working memory trainings induced an increase of working memory’s performance and benefits on ability strictly related with trained abilities. In verbal working memory trainings were also obtained far transfer effects in experimental tasks and in tasks that measure ability related to everyday life; these effects were also maintained over time. The benefit obtained with verbal training’s procedure, instead with visual-spatial procedure, migth be due not only to the procedures applied but also to the greater familiarity that they present with these stimuli. Future researches should take care about these aspects. It was also demonstrated that the old-old (>75 years old) and young old alduls with mild cognitive impairment improved after this training, although transfer effects were limited. In these cases it migth be useful to modify the training procedure following the specific requests of this target of people.Un numero crescente di studi si stà interessando alla possibilità di ritardare il declino cognitivo attraverso training di memoria di lavoro. Tuttavia, gli studi presenti in letteratura sono molto eterogenei e non permettono di determinare con certezza quali sono i fattori che favoriscono la generalizzazione e il mantenimento dei benefici a seguito di un training. Di conseguenza sono stati condotti 6 studi per determinare il ruolo dell’età dei partecipanti (studi 1 e 3) della modalità (verbale vs visuo-spaziale) allenata (studi 4, 5 e 6) e per comprendere se questi training possano essere utili per incrementare le abilità cognitive in persone affette da Mild Cognitive Impairment (studio 2) e se possono produrre effetti anche in abilità necessarie per la vita di tutti i giorni. I risultati hanno evidenziato che i training di memoria di lavoro proposti hanno prodotto un incremento della prestazione nelle prove di memoria di lavoro ed in abilità vicine a quella direttamente esercitata. Negli studi in cui è stato utilizzato il training verbale, inoltre, sono stati ottenuti anche effetti di generalizzazione lontani sia in prove sperimentali che in compiti più vicini alla vita quotidiana e questi effetti si sono mantenuti nel tempo. Il vantaggio dell’uso di compiti verbali rispetto a quelli visuo-spaziali, tuttavia, potrebbe essere dovuto non solo alla modalità esercitata ma anche alla maggiore familiarità degli anziani con gli stimoli utilizzati che rendono, inoltre, più facile l’auto-monitoraggio della prestazione. Studi futuri dovranno tenere in considerazione questi aspetti. E’ stato inoltre dimostrato che anche i grandi vecchi e giovani anziani affetti da mild cognitive impairment beneficiano della partecipazione al training anche se gli effetti di generalizzazione sono limitati. In questi casi potrebbe essere utile modificare il training per rispondere alle particolari esigenze di questi tipi di popolazione

When the mind wanders: Age-related differences between young and older adults

Interest in mind wandering (MW) has grown in recent years, but fewstudies have assessed this phenomenon in older adults. The aim of this study was to assess age-related differences between young, young–old and old–old adults in MW using two versions of the sustained attention to response task (SART), one perceptual and one semantic. Different indicators were examined (i.e., reported MW episodes and behavioral indices of MW such as response time latency and variability, incorrect response and omission errors). The relationship between MW, certain basic mechanisms of cognition (working memory, inhibition and processing speed), cognitive failures and intrusive thoughts in everyday life was also explored. Findings in both versions of the SART indicated that older adults reported a lower frequency of MW episodes than young adults, but some of the behavioral indices of MW(response time variability, incorrect response and omission errors)were higher in old–old adults. This seems to suggest that MW becomes less frequent with aging, but more pervasive and detrimental to performance. Our results also indicated that the role of age and cognitivemechanisms in explaining MW depends on the demands of the SART task considered

Episodic future thinking: the role of working memory and inhibition on age-related differences

The ability to remember past events and imagine future events (episodic future thinking\u2014EFT) has been shown to decline with aging. However, only few studies have analyzed the cognitive mechanisms involved in EFT in both young and older adults. The present study examined the role of working memory and inhibition on age-related differences between young and older adults in EFT, in response to short sentences reflecting common events, some of which were repeated in both conditions (past and future). Thirty-seven young and 36 older adults completed an adapted version of the autobiographical in- terview, in which sentences were presented. Results showed that processing resources explained a significant part of the variance in the amount of details; in particular, inhibition explained the amount of external details pro- duced in the future condition. In addition, using sentences, the older group did not differ from the young adults in terms of the proportion of internal details recalled in the past condition, whereas they produced a lower proportion of internal details in the future condition. The effect of using structured material was reinforced by repeating some sentences in the past. Further, only older adults rated the remembered episodes as more emotionally salient and relevant than the imagined ones. Age-related differences between young and older adults in EFT appear to depend on the type of material used, on basic mechanisms of cognition, and are characterized by both quantitative and qualitative differences

Benefits of training working memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: specific and transfer effects

Background: A growing number of studies are attempting to understand how effective cognitive interventions may be for patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), particularly in relation to their memory problems. Methods: The present study aimed to explore the benefits of a working memory (WM) training program in aMCI patients. Patients (N = 20) were randomly assigned to two training programs: the experimental group practiced with a verbal WM task, while the active control group conducted educational activities on memory. Results: Results showed that the aMCI patients completing the WM training obtained specific gains in the task trained with some transfer effects on other WM measures (visuospatial WM) and on processes involved in or related to WM, e.g. fluid intelligence (the Cattell test) and long-term memory. This was not the case for the aMCI control group, who experienced only a very limited improvement. Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that WM training could be a valuable method for improving cognitive performance in aMCI patients, possibly delaying the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s disease

Cognitive and non-cognitive variables influencing age-related effect of mind wandering across the adult life span

This study aimed to assess the effects of aging on mind wandering (MW) using a sustained attention to response task (SART) with a low cognitive demand. All task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) and the subcategory of stimulus-independent thoughts (SITUTs) were examined across the adult life span. The relationship between MW, cognitive variables (attention, inhibition, working memory), and non-cognitive variables (mindfulness, psychological well-being, and anxiety) was investigated. The sample included 210 healthy participants from 20 to 89 years old. The overall results showed few or no age-related changes in both TUTs and SITUTs. Path analyses revealed that the effect of age on both TUTs and SITUTs was only indirect and mediated by attentional resources, as well as by some aspects of psychological well-being (i.e., emotional competence), which had a direct effect, however. These findings raise doubts about any age-related differences between young and older adults’ MW. Changes in MW across the adult life span are thus discussed along with the method and tasks used to assess it and different variables affecting it

Instagram. Comunicare in modo efficace con le immagini

Un manuale per comprendere il valore del social fotografico per eccellenza, sempre più usato dalle aziende e dalle istituzioni per raccontare il proprio brand e creare contenuti nell'era della comunicazione web 2.0 e del marketing digitale. Il libro spiega i motivi del successo di Instagram e raccoglie le analisi di esperienze consolidate attraverso esempi, case histories e interviste a professionisti. Inoltre viene fornito un pratico ed efficace vademecum per gestire al meglio il proprio profilo, i contenuti e le interazioni con gli altri utenti

Impact of metacognition and motivation on the efficacy of strategic memory training in older adults: analysis of specific, transfer and maintenance effects.

The current study examines the contribution of a number of metacognitive and motivational variables in explaining specific, transfer and maintenance effects of a strategic memory training program, based on the use of mental imagery, in older adults. Participants were assessed before and after the training (immediately post-test, and at 3- and 6-month follow-up) on list recall (criterion) and working memory (transfer) tasks. At the pre-test, metacognition (use of strategies, belief about memory, control on memory) and motivational measures (cognitive engagement, self-efficacy) were also collected. The training produced a benefit in both the criterion and transfer tasks, which was maintained at follow-up. Some of the metacognitive and motivational measures, over and above the level of performance obtained at pre-test, predicted the gains in the objective memory measures. The findings confirmed the importance of considering the role of metacognitive attitudes of older adults in memory training activities

Gains in language comprehension relating to working memory training in healthy older adults

Objective: A growing number of studies are focusing on cognitive training procedures to delay age-related decline. Given the crucial role of working memory (WM) in everyday life, some studies have recently analyzed gains deriving from WM training and their transfer and maintenance effects in older adults. Method: The present study investigates the efficacy of a verbal WM training program in 20 65\u201375 year old adults with no cognitive impairments, considering the specific training-related gains in a verbal WM task (criterion) and the transfer effects on measures of WM updating, reasoning, and on abilities related more to daily life, that is language comprehension. Maintenance of training benefits was also assessed after 6 months. Results: The older adults given training performed better than controls in the criterion task and retained this benefit 6 months later. Immediate transfer effects were seen in most of the abilities considered (reasoning and language comprehension performance) and were substantially maintained at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: Our results suggest that WM training is a promising approach for preserving abilities relating to everyday activities, helping to prolong older adults\u2019 independence and well-being