With the growing literature on cognitive training and the arise of evidence of a positive impact on cognitive functioning, many were the promises that popped up in the market with companies offering products that would deliver a better cognition for their consumers. In the Brazilian context, games and websites sold their products without scientific evidence to support their promises. Motivated by the intriguing question about the impact of cognitive interventions on the cognitive functioning of older adults, a multidomain cognitive intervention was developed for healthy older adults, including settings and formats. previously reported as associated with positive results and came to the following structure: (1) individual training sessions, (2) mnemonic strategies were set as mental visualization, prior knowledge association, and association of unusual ideas, (3) pre-training of attention, (4) pencil and paper format. The protocol is adapted to the participant's level of performance and is linked to daily life activities. The pre-tested protocol had 115 items distributed over 13 tasks and was set up to be conducted in 12 sessions of 60 minutes each. The efficacy of the cognitive training was tested in different settings and intervals and proved to be effective in promoting cognitive gain in trained cognitive abilities (near transfer). The long-term impact of the intervention was assessed in a 3-year interval after three booster sessions.
Publications
Golino, M. T. S., Flores Mendoza, C., & Golino, H. F. (2017). Effects of cognitive training on cognitive performance of healthy older adults. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20(e39), 1-16.
Felix, L. M., Alves, M. M., Teles, M., Jamison, L., & Golino, H. Longitudinal impact and effects of booster sessions in a cognitive training program for healthy older adults. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 104337.