Long-term maintenance of multitasking abilities following video game training in older adults

Integrated cognitive and physical fitness training enhances attention abilities in older adults

“…These findings should be considered with caution given that very few intervention studies targeting cognitive control abilities have evidenced persisting effects well past the initial treatment period [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100] . Indeed, our own work failed to realize the persistence of the more distant transfer effects several years later 64 , and even here the sensitivity of these measures one year later is unclear. While it has been argued that the value of these types of interventions are dubious without the demonstration of sustained benefits beyond the initial treatment period 101,102 , we posit that these findings better highlight the potential utility of incorporating additional booster sessions for sustaining benefits.…”

“…Midline frontal theta (4-7Hz) power (mft Power) has been implicated in sustained attention abilities 42,[121][122][123] , including correlating with RTV across the lifespan 124 , that can evidence the engagement of the prefrontal cognitive control processes during a given task. This particular marker has also demonstrated a level of sensitivity in revealing changes following a digital intervention in multiple studies 23,42,45,48,64 . Time series were created by resolving 4-40 Hz activity using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) in EEGLAB in epochs from -1000 to +1000msec.…”

“…In addition to measuring cognitive performance, participants also underwent electroencephalography (EEG) recordings during the CPT task to examine neural mechanisms that underlie performance changes from pre to post (i.e., improved ability to stabilize their attention as revealed by reductions in tau). Here we utilized the neural metric of midline frontal theta power, given that it has been associated with sustained attention abilities 62,63 and is a sensitive marker of changes in attention abilities following interventions 42,45,64 . A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant group by time interaction (F(1,43)=6.61, p=0.014, Cohen's d = .74; Figure 2c), with post-hoc paired-samples t-tests showing a significant increase in power following the intervention for the BBT group (t23 = -2.77, p = 0.011), but not in the control group (t20 = 0.79, p = 0.44).…”

“…These findings are aligned with our previous work in older adults evidencing similar top-down theta power enhancements following a closed-loop video game intervention (NeuroRacer) 42 , as well as improved theta coherence following a distraction training intervention in both older humans and rats 23 . Thus, empirical support exists for the idea that midline frontal theta is an especially sensitive marker of attentional control changes in intervention studies 64 .…”

“…Midline frontal theta total power analyses (evoked power + induced power) across trials from the vigilance task was conducted by resolving 4-40 Hz activity using a fast Fourier transform in EEGLAB, with these values subsequently referenced to a -900 to -700 pre-stimulus baseline (thus relative power (dB)). After mft relative power was computed, we specifically interrogated a predetermined cluster of frontal electrodes (Fz, FPz, AF3, AF4, and AFz) at the time window of maximum power, as this is the same approach that we have previously utilized in several intervention studies interrogating mft power changes 42,45,48,64 .…”