“Keep up the good work!”: A case study of the effects of a specific cognitive training in Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition characterised by significant impairment in multiple cognitive domains. In recent years, the development of cognitive training in AD has received significant attention. In the present case study we designed a cognitive training program (GEO, Geographical Exercises for cognitive Optimization) based on an errorless paradigm and tailored to the patient's cultural interests. The aim of this training was to investigate the potential for acquiring and possibly retaining both procedural and verbal knowledge in early-stage AD. This study involved an 80-year old female patient diagnosed with early-stage AD, and 10 matched healthy subjects.Participants were asked to perform the two GEO training tasks: a 'puzzle-like' task for procedural memory, and an 'association' task for verbal memory. Both the patient and the healthy controls were subsequently trained with GEO using the same two tasks for two months. Although the patient's performance before training in both tasks was poor compared to healthy controls, after the training these differences disappeared. Our results showed that the patient was able to acquire new procedural abilities and verbal knowledge, and that her achievements were stable at the follow-up testing scheduled three months after the end of the intervention. This case study suggests a potentially useful strategy for cognitive training in AD.

Cognitive Training in a Large Group of Patients Affected by Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease can have Long-Lasting Effects: A Case-Control Study

“…Cognitive training (GEO): The exercise used for the cognitive training had been already described in our previous study (Cavallo et al, 2013b). We presented to the participants (both patients and healthy controls) a simplified model of the world that required subjects to arrange 16 countries in their right place in the shortest possible time, in a ‘puzzle-like’ fashion.…”

“…Our research group recently published a case-study about the efficacy of a new cognitive training called GEO, (Cavallo et al, 2013b). This study involved an 80 year old female patient diagnosed with early-stage AD, and ten matched healthy subjects.…”

Computerized Structured Cognitive Training in Patients Affected by Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease is Feasible and Effective: A Randomized Controlled Study

“…Previous studies have already highlighted that specific neuropsychological domains, such as episodic memory, executive function, language and attention, are particularly vulnerable to AD (Bondi et al, 2008), and that some of these domains can be positively affected by cognitive intervention (Cavallo et al, 2013a;Huntley et al, 2015), even if to date evidence in this direction is still growing. To the best of our knowledge, our study is one of the first showing at a large scale a clear and stable pattern of improved neuropsychological performances in AD patients due to the cognitive training implemented.…”

“…The rationale for cognitive training in AD is based on evidence regarding the neuropsychology and neuroanatomy of memory impairments in AD and the capacity of the patients with AD to acquire new knowledge (Clare et al, 2001;Cavallo et al, 2013a;Cavallo et al, 2016). It is relevant to note that converging evidence clearly indicates that some cognitive subsystems (e.g.…”

Patients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease engage in verbal reminiscence with the support of a computer-aided program: a pilot study

“…Recommended behavioral intervention strategies for persons in the earlier stages of the disease have focused, among others, on assisting those persons with the: (a) performance of daily activities; (b) orientation and travel in indoor and limited outdoor areas; and (c) verbal reminiscence (Lancioni et al, 2010 , 2012 , 2013a , b , 2014b ; Caffò et al, 2012 , 2014 ; Crete-Nishihata et al, 2012 ; Serrani Azcurra, 2012 ; Subramaniam and Woods, 2012 ; Cavallo et al, 2013 ; Lanza et al, 2014 ; Singh et al, 2014 ; Wingbermuehle et al, 2014 ). In each of these areas, technology-aided programs have been developed with the aim of enabling the persons to achieve satisfactory performance independent of staff intervention (Singh et al, 2014 ).…”