Cognitive Training in an Aging Population
By Kayla Gross
When it comes to Alzheimer’s the question is no longer do you know someone with the disease, but rather who you know who has the disease. Alzheimer’s disease now impacts approximately 5.8 million individuals in the United States, with numbers that are likely to continue climbing (Alzheimer’s Association, 2019).
An individual who is experiencing cognitive decline may start becoming agitated and irritable. Individuals diagnosed typically experience mild signs of cognitive impairment such as forgetting material that was read, misplacing objects, or problems with remembering the right word or name. These signs of mild cognitive impairment continue to progress as time goes on. Currently, with no definite cure of Alzheimer’s, individuals such as Dr. Jeffrey Buchanan, a Minnesota State University, Mankato Psychology professor, are seeking any form of treatment or cognitive therapy program that can reduce the effects and progression of the disease.
Dr. Buchanan has focused on boosting cognition through activities and brain games, a training program that is known as “Mind Aerobics”. These brain games are implemented in classes to stabilize cognitive functioning and improve daily functioning in individuals that are impacted by Alzheimer’s. Dr. Buchanan, in partnership with VINE, a local service program offering programs for adults, recently received a grant from the Minnesota Board on Aging to offer cognitive training programs for people diagnosed with early-stage dementia. They are hopeful that more adults gaining access to this program will reveal evidence on its potential to delay the onset of dementia.
The key target for the use of brain games is to impact daily life processes and increase cognitive functioning. The tasks allow six major cognitive functions such as reaction time or memory to be measured. Although there is heavy use of and interest in brain games for those with cognitive impairment, there is still a lot of controversy between researchers and organizations providing brain game products around the expected results of these games. Individuals participating in the brain games usually hope for immediate change. However, the process isn’t always as simple as this. Most of the change comes in the form of what is called global cognitive functioning. This means that overall there are positive changes in everyday thinking, such as solving problems with ease or remembering what you were just thinking about.
The results are easily misinterpreted, as well as the marketing tactics that are used by organizations who create cognitive brain games. Organizations are often hoping to give away their products to have researchers prove the effectiveness brain games have for those suffering from cognitive impairment. As a researcher, regardless of the results, you need to be careful in providing feedback regarding the effectiveness of brain game programs. The studies implemented have had significant limitations making it unreliable to give organizations and those suffering from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairing diseases the hope of an entirely successful product. Small sample sizes and no control group within most of these studies are one of the major limitations of research studying the use of brain games with individuals suffering some form of cognitive impairment.
So, what should be done in order to avoid having participants and organizations fall into the common myths that are presented with the use of brain games? First, it is important to ensure communication is clear and that feedback is honest so misinterpretations can be avoided. Ensuring that individuals know the program is still being researched and altered prior to participating is one way to provide clear communication. Also, letting all individuals, including the sponsoring organization, know that the results may not be positive and may not always have the answer that is wanted will help avoid controversy later. Brain games may be a great resource to help those with cognitive impairments, but it is important to follow high-quality scientific processes when researching the effectiveness of brain games so that misconceptions and false results can be avoided!