Cognitive training modified age-related brain changes in older adults with subjective memory decline

Abstract

Objectives

Neuroimaging findings suggest that older adults with subjective memory decline (SMD) demonstrate some neurodegenerative brain changes and have high risk of developing dementia, but relatively little is known about the effectiveness of interventions for SMD. This study aimed to examine the effects of cognitive training on resting-state brain activity in SMD.

Method

This study employed the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analyses. After baseline evaluations, participants were randomly allocated to the intervention and control group to receive a four-week cognitive training and lectures on health and aging, respectively. All participants were scanned before and after training with an interval of about three months.

Results

(1) Participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements on the Associative Learning Test (ALT) and the Digit Span Forward task compared to the control group; (2) ALFF in the occipital lobe for the control group increased significantly, while that for the intervention group remained the same; ALFF changes were negatively correlated with ALT performance in the control group; (3) The mean value of rs-FC for the intervention group decreased, while that for the control group showed a trend of increase; rs-FC changes were also negatively correlated with ALT performance in the control group.

Conclusions

Resting-state brain activities in occipital region increased with aging. The cognitive training could counteract this brain function changes associated with aging or even reverse the changes. These findings provide new insights into the understanding of brain plasticity in posterior areas in SMD.

Trial Registration

ChiCTR-IOR-15006165 in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry.

Keywords:

• brain plasticity
• cognitive training
• older adults
• subjective memory decline
• resting-state fMRI

Availability of data and materials

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC2000300, 2018YFC2001701, 2020YFC2003000, 2016YFC1305900, 2017YFB1401203), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31600904, 32071079, 31861133011, 31671157, 31711530157, 61673374), the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology (KLMH2020K03), and the Scientific Foundation of Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y9CX191005).