Effectiveness of tDCS to Improve Recognition and Reduce False Memories in Older Adults

Abstract

Background. False memories tend to increase in healthy and pathological aging, and their reduction could be useful in improving cognitive functioning. The objective was to use an active-placebo method to verify whether the application of tDCS in improving true recognition and reducing false memories in healthy older people. Method. Participants were 29 healthy older adults (65-78 years old) assigned to active or placebo group; active group received anodal stimulation at 2mA for 20 min over F7. An experimental task was used to estimate true and false recognition. The procedure took place in two sessions on two consecutive days. Results. A mixed ANOVA of true recognition showed a significant main effect of session (p = .004), indicating an increase from before treatment to after it. False recognition showed a significant main effect (p = .004), indicating a decrease from before treatment to after it and a significant session x group interaction (p < .0001). Conclusions. Overall, our results show that tDCS is an effective tool for increasing true recognition and reducing false recognition in healthy older people, and suggest that stimulation improves recall by increasing the number of items a participant can recall and reducing the number of memory errors.

Emotional and Behavioral Changes in Older Adults With High Risk of Cognitive Impairment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Surprisingly, our hypothesis was not supported, since the findings showed that older adults with HRCI were able to demonstrate resilience during the pandemic. Previous studies indicated that older adults with risk of cognitive impairment used less emotional and supportive coping strategies compared with the population sample (Axelman et al, 2003), and the pathology of cognitive decline could hinder the effective adoption of coping strategies (Meléndez et al, 2018). Although our findings could not directly speak against those, HRCI older adults in this study did show coping abilities with improved emotional states and higher intentions of taking protective behaviors during the pandemic.…”

“…As a matter of fact, according to the definition of coping , which involves cognitive efforts, it is reasonable to suspect that older adults who are more prone to cognitive declines might have difficulties in coping with stressors, compared to their healthy counterparts. Indeed, some researchers have found that older adults diagnosed with cognitive impairment, for instance Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients, had worse resilience, shown by lower levels of emotional well-being and orientation towards problem-focused coping strategies, compared to healthy older adults (Meléndez et al, 2018).…”