Abstract
Background
The current study sets out to explore the influence of a well-studied cognitive control training (CCT) procedure on cognitive control processes, emotion regulation (ER) and self-reported affect in older adults.
Methods
Thirty-nine healthy older adults (aged 64–78) participated in a randomized controlled proof-of-concept trial. Twenty-one of these participants performed 10 sessions of CCT that loads on working memory and sustained attention, the other eighteen performed 10 sessions of an active placebo training.
Results
CCT beneficially impacted task-specific transfer, but the training did not result in transfer to an unrelated cognitive control task (Stroop task). In addition, no effects were observed on ER processes or affect changes immediately following training, nor at 6 weeks follow-up.
Conclusion
At this point, the CCT seems not suitable to enhance cognitive resilience factors in older non-depressed individuals. However, there is need for more research on possible moderators of the effects, as well as larger-scale studies with longer follow-up measurements.
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Notes
This study was part of a larger project, also investigating the relationship between ageing, proactive control and attentional bias. Therefore, the AX-CPT (measured before the intervention), the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF, measured before and after the intervention) and the eye tracking task with emotional stimuli (measured after the intervention) were also collected but data will not be presented in the current manuscript. Analyses of the BRIEF revealed no effect of the intervention, completely in line with the reported null-finding in the current paper. Due to various technical reasons, we are unable to annotate each daily training data file to every specific participant during the home-based trainings sessions. Hence, the link between training performance and outcome measures could not be investigated.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the participants for their willingness to take part in this study. This research was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (Grant 3G015614, awarded to RDR and MAV). Preparation of this paper was also supported by Grant BOF16/GOA/017 for a Concerted Research Action of Ghent University (awarded to RDR) and a grant BOFSTA2017002501 for research at Ghent University (awarded to MAV). The authors report no conflicts of interest, either financial or scholarly. Neither funding source had any influence on the design or results of the study.
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Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt, Ineke Demeyer, Leila Van Imschoot, Kristof Hoorelbele, and Rudi De Raedt, declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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The study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of the Ghent University Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the ethics committee, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Vanderhasselt, MA., Demeyer, I., Van Imschoot, L. et al. Cognitive Control Training in Healthy Older Adults: A Proof of Concept Study on the Effects on Cognitive Functioning, Emotion Regulation and Affect. Cogn Ther Res 45, 959–968 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10154-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10154-9