Physical as well as cognitive training interventions improve specific cognitive functions but effects barely generalize on global cognition. Combined physical and cognitive training may overcome this shortcoming as physical training may facilitate the neuroplastic potential which, in turn, may be guided by cognitive training. This study aimed at investigating the benefits of combined training on global cognition while assessing the effect of training dosage and exploring the role of several potential effect modifiers. In this multi-center study, 322 older adults with or without neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) were allocated to a computerized, game-based, combined physical and cognitive training group (n = 237) or a passive control group (n = 85). Training group participants were allocated to different training dosages ranging from 24 to 110 potential sessions. In a pre-post-test design, global cognition was assessed by averaging standardized performance in working memory, episodic memory and executive function tests. The intervention group increased in global cognition compared to the control group, p = 0.002, Cohen’s d = 0.31. Exploratory analysis revealed a trend for less benefits in participants with more severe NCD, p = 0.08 (cognitively healthy: d = 0.54; mild cognitive impairment: d = 0.19; dementia: d = 0.04). In participants without dementia, we found a dose-response effect of the potential number and of the completed number of training sessions on global cognition, p = 0.008 and p = 0.04, respectively. The results indicate that combined physical and cognitive training improves global cognition in a dose-responsive manner but these benefits may be less pronounced in older adults with more severe NCD. The long-lasting impact of combined training on the incidence and trajectory of NCDs in relation to its severity should be assessed in future long-term trials.
The study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that in high-functioning individuals the left-handedness phenotype facilitates the performance of executive-related tasks that engage the right hemisphere. The Trail-Making Test and Letter-Number Sequencing, previously indicated to engage the right hemisphere, were applied on 47 right-handers and 50 left-handers. There was a significant effect of handedness on both measures and an interaction effect of gender and handedness on the Trail-Making Test. The findings are considered to support the view that greater engagement of right-hemispheric resources facilitates the performance of higher order functions that orchestrate cognition, such as mental flexibility, inhibitory control, and working memory operations.
The present results indicate that accuracy of self-report is not uniform across groups and functional areas. The discrepancies in the MCI patients indicate unawareness of their memory deficits, which is contradictory to subjective memory complaints as being an important component for clinical diagnosis.
Ageing appears to affect incidental rather than intentional memory to a greater extent. In addition, attentional and executive functioning seem to play a more important role in incidental than intentional encoding and consolidation processes.
The observed selective cognitive impairment reflecting frontal-parietal network dysfunction, together with impaired olfaction, define a set of nonmotor dysfunctions related to A53T PD. These results have implications for the prognosis of patients with A53T PD. Moreover, as the archetypal α-synucleinopathy, such results may give insights into tPD.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative syndromes associated with several causative and susceptibility genes. Herein, we aimed to determine the incidence of the most common causative dementia genes in a cohort of 118 unrelated Greek FTD spectrum patients. We also screened for novel possible disease-associated variants in additional 21 genes associated with FTD or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Pathogenic or likely pathogenic *
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