Feasibility and Acceptability of Computerised Cognitive Training of Everyday Cognition in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Objectives. We piloted a computerised cognitive training battery in a group of participants with Parkinson’s disease without dementia to investigate the relevance of the training to daily life and the feasibility and the acceptability of the tasks. Previous studies of CT have had limited success in the benefits of training, extending to improvements in everyday function. By taking a pragmatic approach and targeting training to the cognitive skills affected by Parkinson’s disease (planning, attention, and recollection), whilst using tasks that emulated real-life scenarios, we sought to understand whether participants perceived the training to be effective and to identify the elements of the training that elicited beneficial effects. Methods. Four participants completed a cognitive training session comprising three distinct tasks 5 days a week over two weeks. Participants completed baseline questionnaires examining health-related quality of life, everyday cognition, and apathy before the training period, after the last session, and two weeks after the last session. An interview was held after participants had completed the training. Results. The findings indicated that participants felt the training was acceptable, enhanced their awareness, and encouraged them to monitor their thinking abilities. The group interview indicated that the training was feasible; participants felt the tasks had potential to improve everyday performance, but more supporting information should be provided to facilitate this transfer. Responses to the questionnaires reflected these findings, indicating improvement for some participants’ cognition and quality of life. Objective measures supported the subjective reports; there were improvements in some but not all domains. Performance on the planning and recollection tasks improved over the training period, and the evidence for improvement on the attention task was mixed. Conclusion. This study has found that pragmatic computer-based training with real-life outcomes is both feasible and acceptable and should be evaluated more extensively using controlled methods.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Cognitive Training Study in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Our findings are consistent with recent evidence presented by Cuevas et al [91] suggesting individuals with T2DM may be motivated to participate in cognitive activities due to their concerns of developing dementia. The programme format was found to be acceptable in the current study, and in line with previous research [92,93], cognitive training was found to be challenging but enjoyable. Enjoyment is a key determinant of intervention acceptability and has been directly linked to increased adherence and long-term compliance to positive health behaviours [94][95][96][97].…”

Efficacy of Corsi Block Tapping Task training for improving visuospatial skills: a non-randomized two-group study

“…This study therefore expands on previous research in several ways. First, we note that this study tested a much larger sample size ( n = 53) than previous experiments that examined visuospatial training in adults (which had samples ranging from n = 4 to 15) (Cerasa et al 2014 ; Folkerts et al 2018 ; Smith et al 2019 ; Tippett and Rizkalla 2014 ). Second, exploratory analyses also indicated that within the training group, more improvement on the CBTT was associated with more improvement on the mental rotation test.…”

“…Computerized training programs that do selectively target visuospatial ability have shown efficacy in younger children in improving mental rotation (Cheung et al 2020 ; Rodan et al 2019 ) and visuospatial working memory (Gizzonio et al 2022 ). Visuospatial-specific training for adults has also been beneficial, but it has only been piloted in small samples (i.e., n ≤ 15) (Cerasa et al 2014 ; Folkerts et al 2018 ; Smith et al 2019 ; Tippett and Rizkalla 2014 ). Although most cognitive interventions span multiple days, there is evidence of improvement in visuospatial scores from a single session (Sanchez 2012 ).…”

Evaluation of Computerized Cognitive Training and Cognitive and Daily Function in Patients Living With HIV

“…23 The theoretical premise behind CCT is that it can stimulate neuroplasticity. 24 From a neuropsychological perspective, 25 CCT has the potential to shape brain structure and reorganize function among cognitively healthy older adults [26][27][28] and individuals with Alzheimer disease, 29,30 Parkinson disease, 31,32 attention deficits, 33 and acquired brain injury. 34 Furthermore, physiological parameters, including brain metabolism 35 and inflammatory, 36 hormonal, 37 and sleep-related factors, 38 may also be transformed through brain plasticity.…”