Limited training and transfer effects in older and young adults who participated in 12 sessions of process-based working memory training. A three-armed pretest-posttest design study.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies confirm the effectiveness of cognitive training in older adults. However, there is limited evidence of the transfer occurrence. The part of the study presented here tested the effect of 12 process-based working memory training sessions on the performance of the trained task (training effect) and other cognitive tasks (transfer effect). A pretest-posttest study design with one experimental group and two control (passive and active) groups. The sample comprised three groups of older adults: experimental (n = 25), passive control (n = 22), active control (n = 7), and young adults: experimental (n = 25), passive control (n = 25), and active control (n = 12). The study was registered after completion with a ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06235840 on 31 January 2024. RESULTS: Under the influence of training, the performance of the trained task improved significantly, but only in young adults. Transfer of WM training effects was not revealed. Among young adults, a testing effect was observed for the indicator of attentional focus and psychomotor speed. Moreover, the obtained results suggest the transfer from practice in multi-domain training, implemented in the active control group, to tasks that require the use of fluid intelligence. However, this finding should be interpreted with great caution due to the small size of active control groups.

Compensatory brain activity pattern is not present in older adults during the n-back task performance-Findings based on EEG frequency analysis.

Introduction: Cognitive ability is one of the most important enablers for successful aging. At the same time, cognitive decline is a well-documented phenomenon accompanying the aging process. Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that aging can also be related to positive processes that allow one to compensate for the decline. These processes include the compensatory brain activity of older adults primarily investigated using fMRI and PET. To strengthen the cognitive interpretation of compensatory brain activity in older adults, we searched for its indicators in brain activity measured by EEG. Methods: The study sample comprised 110 volunteers, including 50 older adults (60-75 years old) and 60 young adults (20-35 years old) who performed 1-back, 2-back, and 3-back tasks while recording the EEG signal. The study analyzed (1) the level of cognitive performance, including sensitivity index, the percentage of correct answers to the target, and the percentage of false alarm errors; (2) theta and alpha power for electrodes located in the frontal-midline (Fz, AF3, AF4, F3, F4, FC1, and FC2) and the centro-parietal (CP1, CP2, P3, P4, and Pz) areas. Results: Cognitive performance was worse in older adults than in young adults, which manifested in a significantly lower sensitivity index and a significantly higher false alarm error rate at all levels of the n-back task difficulty. Simultaneously, performance worsened with increasing task difficulty regardless of age. Significantly lower theta power in the older participants was observed at all difficulty levels, even at the lowest one, where compensatory activity was expected. At the same time, at this difficulty level, cognitive performance was worse in older adults than in young adults, which could reduce the chances of observing compensatory brain activity. The significant decrease in theta power observed in both age groups with rising task difficulty can reflect a declining capacity for efficient cognitive functioning under increasing demands rather than adapting to this increase. Moreover, in young adults, alpha power decreased to some extent with increasing cognitive demand, reflecting adaptation to them, while in older adults, no analogous pattern was observed. Discussion: In conclusion, based on the results of the current study, the presence of compensatory activity in older adults cannot be inferred.

[Prospective memory - concepts, methods of assessment, neuroanatomical bases and its deficits in mental disorders]. / Pamiec prospektywna - pojecia, metody badania, podloze neuroanatomiczne oraz jej deficyty w chorobach psychicznych.

In the last two decades of the last century there has been a shift in the studies on memory. In psychology of memory the criticism of the laboratory approach resulted in development of the ecological approach. One of the effects of this change was to initiate researches on memory that includes plans for the future, which has resulted in the distinction of the concept of prospective memory. Prospective memory is used in many aspects of everyday life. It deals with remembering intentions and plans, it is connected with remembering about specific task or activity in the future. There are three types of PM: event-based prospective memory, time-based prospective memory and activity-based prospective memory. Current research in this field have already established its own paradigm and tools measuring PM and there is still increasing scientific interest in this issue. Prospective memory assessment may be carried out in various ways. Among them, the most frequently used are: a) questionnaires, b) psychological tests, c) experimental procedures. Within the latter, the additional distinction can be introduced for: the experiments conducted under natural conditions and the laboratory procedures. In Polish literature, there are only a few articles on PM. The aim of this work is to review studies on assessment methods of PM. Its neuroanatomical bases and its functioning in different mental disorders are analyzed. The work is aimed to focus clinicians attention on prospective memory as an area which is important for complex diagnosis of cognitive processes.

Selection, optimization and compensation strategies and their relationship with well-being and impulsivity in early, middle and late adulthood in a Polish sample.

BACKGROUND: The model of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC model) characterises the life management strategies that contribute to successful development. Although the SOC model is an important developmental theory, until now there has been no Polish version of a measurement tool for SOC strategies. The studies conducted so far have consistently indicated a relationship between the use of these strategies and well-being. In contrast, the relationship between SOC strategies and impulsivity has not yet been empirically examined, although there are theoretical premises to assume its existence. The aim of the study was to compare the use of SOC strategies in early, middle and late adulthood, and to investigate the relationship between the use of SOC strategies and well-being and impulsivity, using a newly developed Polish version of the SOC Questionnaire (SOC48-PL). METHODS: The study applied a quantitative approach. The sample comprised 589 Poles from three age groups: early adulthood (n = 186, 20-35 years), middle adulthood (n = 165, 40-55 years) and late adulthood (n = 238, 60-85 years). In the study, in addition to the SOC48-PL questionnaire, the Short Depression-Happiness Scale (SDHS) and the Short UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (S UPPS-P) were used. RESULTS: Developmental differences in the use of SOC strategies are rather slight, with considerable individual differences within age groups. The study revealed some indications of a 'developmental peak' of SOC strategies in middle adulthood. The use SOC strategies is positively related to well-being. In turn, the relationship between the use of SOC strategies and impulsivity is negative, especially for two dimensions of impulsivity: lack of premeditation and lack of perseverance. CONCLUSIONS: The results only slightly confirm the assumed age-related differences in the use of SOC strategies and point to a large role of individual differences. The revealed positive relationships of SOC strategy use with well-being and negative with impulsivity are consistent with expectations. With the present study, the SOC48-PL questionnaire may find application in further studies on the SOC model involving the Polish population, as well as in the measurement of SOC strategies in psychological practice. Furthermore, the identified associations of SOC strategies with well-being and impulsivity can be taken as initial indications for the development of interventions based on teaching the use of SOC strategies. Cross-cultural comparisons, long-term longitudinal studies on changes in the use of SOC strategies over the life course, and combining quantitative and qualitative approaches in the analysis of the use of SOC strategies in practice are worth mentioning as directions for further research.

Internet Use and Problematic Use in Seniors: A Comparative Study in Switzerland and Poland.

Background: Seniors have been only little considered in studies examining problematic internet use and associated health issues, although they may present risk factors that make them particularly vulnerable for the development of problematic internet use. Objectives: (1) To compare Internet use and problematic use among seniors in Switzerland and Poland; (2) To examine the relationships between problematic internet use, impulsivity traits and well-being as previous studies showed that internet can be used to cope with negative emotions or life dissatisfaction. Methods: A cross-sectional survey conducted between June 2016 and April 2017 with 264 older internet users aged above 60 years old recruited in Switzerland (88) and Poland (176) assessing sociodemographic variables, online activities, problematic internet use, impulsivity traits and well-being. Results: The two groups differed in their reported online activities in that Polish participants reported more searching for information and buying, whereas Swiss participants reported significantly greater problematic internet use than Polish participants. Finally, a multiple linear regression analysis performed on the whole sample indicated that lower well-being and being a Swiss participant were both significantly associated with greater problematic internet use, after age, gender, level of education, impulsivity traits have been controlled for. Discussion: Swiss seniors showed a more problematic internet use than Polish participants who focused more in their online activities on utility use of internet. The relationships between problematic internet use and well-being suggest that older adults use internet mainly to cope with negative emotion or life dissatisfaction. Socio-cultural differences that could account for these group differences as well as difference with young adults are discussed.

Effects of virtual reality-based cognitive training in older adults living without and with mild dementia: a pretest-posttest design pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Modern technologies are increasingly used in the development of cognitive interventions for older adults. Research into possible applications of virtual reality in such interventions has begun only recently. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effects of 8 sessions of VR-based cognitive training using the GRADYS game in healthy older adults (n = 72; aged 60-88) and older adults living with mild dementia (n = 27; aged 60-89). RESULTS: Older adults with mild dementia demonstrated worse baseline cognitive performance than participants without dementia. Both groups showed progress in training, which was greater in healthy older adults. There were also significant differences in cognitive functioning before and after the training. However, positive changes were revealed almost exclusively in the group of older adults without dementia. Based on the findings, we can recommend the GRADYS game for cognitive enhancement and as a possible counter-measure for cognitive decline experienced in normal cognitive ageing. Our results provide also support for the usefulness of VR technology in cognitive interventions in older adults. The use of the GRADYS game in persons living with dementia, however, would require several of the hardware and software modifications. Trial registration ISRCTN17613444, date of registration: 10.09.2019. Retrospectively registered.

Verbal fluency in research conducted with PET technique under conditions of extended cognitive activation with the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) tracer. / Fluencja slowna w badaniach technika PET w warunkach przedluzonej aktywizacji poznawczej z zastosowaniem znacznika 18F-fluorodeoksyglukozy (FDG).

OBJECTIVES: Functional neuroimaging of the brain is a widely used method to study cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to compare the activity of the brain during performance of the tasks of phonemic and semantic fluency with the paced-overt technique in terms of prolonged activation of the brain. METHODS: The study included 17 patients aged 20-40 years who were treated in the past for Hodgkin'slymphoma, now in remission. Due to the type of task, the subjectswere divided into two groups. Nine people performed the phonemic fluency task, and eight semantic. Due to the disease, all subjects were subject to neuropsychological diagnosis. The diagnosis of any cognitive impairment was an exclusion criterion. Neuroimaging was performed using PET technique with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) tracer. RESULTS: Performance of a verbal fluency test, regardless of the version of the task, was associated with greater activity of the left hemisphere of the brain. The most involved areas compared with other areas of key importance for the performance of verbal fluency tasks were frontal lobes. An increased activity of parietal structures was also shown. CONCLUSIONS: The study did not reveal differences in brain activity depending on the type of task. Performing the test in both phonemic and semantic form for a long time, in terms of increased cognitive control resulting from the test procedure, could result in significant advantage of prefrontal lobe activityin both types of tasks and made it impossible to observe the processes specific to each of them.

A Lack of Correlation between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Serum Level and Verbal Memory Performance in Healthy Polish Population.

Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered to be connected with memory and learning through the processes of long term synaptic potentiation and synaptic plasticity. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between precursor BDNF (proBNDF) and mature BDNF (mBDNF) serum levels and performance on Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) in 150 healthy volunteers. In addition, we have verified the relationships between serum concentration of both forms of BDNF and RAVLT with sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.We found no strong evidence for the correlation of proBDNF and mBDNF serum levels with performance on RAVLT in healthy Polish population in early and middle adulthood. We observed the mBDNF serum concentration to be higher in women compared with men. Moreover, we revealed higher mBDNF level to be connected with lower body mass index (BMI). In turn, the results of RAVLT correlated with sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, such as: age, education, gender, BMI and smoking.

BDNF gene polymorphisms and haplotypes in relation to cognitive performance in Polish healthy subjects.

The brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophin that plays an important role in the cell survival, axonal and dendritic growth, and synaptic plasticity. BDNF gene polymorphisms, 'functional Val66Met mainly, were shown to influence human brain structure and cognition. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between twelve BDNF gene variants and their haplotypes and cognitive performance measured using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Stroop Test which are to a large extent connected with prefrontal cortex activity. Our sample consisted of 460 healthy participants from Polish population. We detected possible association between five BDNF polymorphisms (rs11030101, rs10835210, rs2049046, rs2030324, rs2883187) and TMT_A. Additionally, one haplotype block made from eleven BDNF variants (rs2883187, rs1401635, rs2049046, rs2030324, rs11030101, rs10835210, rs1013402, rs1401635, rs1013402), as significant linkage disequilibrium appeared. We discovered possible relationships of CACCGCGTACG and CACCGCGTACG haplotypes with TMT_A and TMT_B performance respectively. Our results confirmed the involvement of BDNF in the regulation of psychomotor speed, working memory and executive function in healthy subjects measured by a task engaging visuoperceptual abilities.

Aging in Poland.

With 38 million residents, Poland has the eighth-largest population in Europe. A successful transition from communism to democracy, which began in 1989, has brought several significant changes to the country's economic development, demographic structure, quality of life, and public policies. As in the other European countries, Poland has been facing a rapid increase in the number of older adults. Currently, the population 65 and above is growing more rapidly than the total population and this discrepancy will have important consequences for the country's economy. As the population ages, there will be increased demands to improve Poland's health care and retirement systems. This article aims to provide a brief overview of the demographic trends in Poland as well a look at the country's major institutions of gerontology research. The article also describes key public policies concerning aging and how these may affect the well-being of Poland's older adults.