Abstract
Computerized cognitive training programs are becoming increasingly popular and practical for cognitive aging. Nevertheless, basic questions remain about the benefits of such programs, and about the degree to which participant expectations might influence training and transfer. Here we examined a commercial cognitive training program (Activate) in a 5-week double-blind, pseudo-randomized placebo-controlled trial. Based on a priori power analysis, we recruited 99 healthy older adults 59–91 years of age (M = 68.87, SD = 6.31; 69 women), assigning them to either the intervention or an active control program (Sudoku and single-domain n-back working memory exercises). We subdivided both groups into high and low expectation priming conditions to probe for effects of participants’ expectations on training and transfer. We assessed transfer using a battery of standard neuropsychological and psychosocial measures that had been agreed to by the training program developers. We planned and pre-registered our analyses (on osf.io). The majority (88%) of participants progressed through the training, and most provided positive feedback about it. Similarly, the majority (80%) of participants believed they were truly training their brains. Yet, transfer of training was minimal. Also minimal were any effects of expectations on training and transfer, although participants who received high expectation priming tended to engage more with their assigned program overall. Our findings suggest limited benefits of Activate training on cognition and psychosocial well-being in healthy older adults, at least under the conditions we used.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Bruce Wexler and Sean O’Leary for granting us free access to and support for the Activate program. We also thank Bruce Wexler, Sarah Morimoto, and Morris Bell for providing feedback on our experimental protocol and analysis plan, as well as Veronika Huta for guidance on our statistical analyses. We thank Bruce Wexler for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, as well as Charles Collin, Andra Smith, Vanessa Taler, and Louis Behrer for thoughtful feedback on the study design and analysis. We thank Zachary Ball, Lara Geinoz, Victoria Hall, Alix Hill, Katia Giguère Marshal, Awais Rahman, Raphaëlle Robidoux, Zak Sanaye, Jonathan Tran, and Allison Walsh for help with data collection and verification. We also acknowledge Fonds de Recherche Québec—Santé for their support of this work.
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The authors received the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC, Discovery Grant), Ontario, graduate scholarships.
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S.R. and P.S.R.D. designed the study with help from M.P. S.R., C.M., and J.C. collected the data. S.R. and P.S.R.D. analyzed the data with help from C.M., J.C., M.O.G.G., and A.P. S.R., and P.S.R.D. wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Rabipour, S., Morrison, C., Crompton, J. et al. Few Effects of a 5-Week Adaptive Computerized Cognitive Training Program in Healthy Older Adults. J Cogn Enhanc 4, 258–273 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00147-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-019-00147-2