Can unpredictable memory training boost mental flexibility in seniors?

What happens to fluid cognition after the age of 60?

Fluid cognition, which includes abilities such as episodic memory, reasoning, and multi-tasking, declines rapidly with age, particularly after 60 years.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What brain networks' disruption is thought to underlie age-related declines in working memory and cognitive control?

Disruption of the fronto-parietal brain networks is believed to underlie these age-related cognitive declines.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Which cognitive marker is considered the best indicator of the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease?

Significant and early declines of verbal episodic memory.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What are the two tiers of accessibility in Cowan's hierarchical model of working memory?

The focus of attention (FoA), which offers immediate access, and a larger activated portion of long-term memory (LTM), where items are stored in a readily available but not immediately accessible state.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

According to continuous memory updating paradigms, what is the capacity limit of the Focus of Attention (FoA) for serial attention processes?

The capacity of the FoA is limited to just one item.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What operation is required to process an item stored in the outer store, and how does it affect retrieval latency?

A focus switch operation is required to shift the item into the FoA, which increases the retrieval latency of that information.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Focus switch costs are typically used as a measure of which cognitive ability?

Focus switch costs are considered to be a measure of cognitive control.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What are the three zones in the architecture proposed by the Theory of Working Memory Adaptability (ToWMA)?

An inner focus of attention of one information unit, an outer store where information is actively manipulated/updated, and a passive store where information is held without updating.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

According to the Theory of Working Memory Adaptability (ToWMA), what are the three functions of the Focus of Attention?

Directing attention to relevant information, retrieving information, and updating information.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

How does probe-cue expectancy differ between standard N-back paradigms and unpredictable N-back tasks?

In standard N-back tasks, expectancy is predictable because the probe is preceded by the same N positions, whereas in unpredictable N-back tasks, the position of the probe within an N is random.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Under ToWMA, how does predictability affect the focus switch cost as set size (N) increases?

Predictable expectancy results in a constant focus switch cost from N = 2 to 5, whereas unpredictable expectancy causes the focus switch cost to increase with N.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI

Why does the Theory of Working Memory Adaptability (ToWMA) suggest that training older adults in unpredictable memory updating paradigms would produce greater cognitive transfer?

Because unpredictable paradigms demand greater cognitive control, which is the primary area of age-related deficit.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What is 'variable priority training' and why is it thought to show broader transfer than fixed priority training?

It trains cognitive control by unpredictably shifting task priorities, which relies more heavily on the brain's attentional control networks.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What training paradigm did prior studies of variable priority training in older adults use, and what was its limitation regarding transfer?

They used dual-task paradigms, which typically resulted in limited transfer, usually to another dual-task situation.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Why might unpredictable memory updating training transfer better to fluid intelligence than dual-task training?

Because working memory updating, compared to dual-tasking, has been argued to be more predictive of fluid intelligence.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Were the predictable and unpredictable training protocols in this study individually adaptive?

No, both training versions were non-adaptive; all participants completed all set-sizes regardless of their level of performance.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI

What was the age range of the older adults recruited for this study?

The participants were between 60 and 86 years old.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What was the minimum score on the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE-2) required to participate in this study?

Participants had to score 25 or higher on the MMSE-2 to avoid exclusion.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What was the training duration and schedule for the participants in both groups?

Participants were trained over five 1-hour sessions spanning across 2 weeks (one week with two sessions, the other with three).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

When were the transfer tasks assessed to measure short-term and long-term training benefits?

Immediately after the 2-week training (immediate post-testing) and after a 1.5-month retention period (delayed post-testing).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

How did the N-Match task used in this study eliminate saccadic eye movements as a confound compared to previous modified N-back paradigms?

All digits appeared in the same location at the center of the screen, with only color acting as the retrieval cue, rather than using multiple spatial columns.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

How was the predictable probe sequence structured in the Predictable Training (PT) group to include non-switch trials?

Each probe color was presented twice in a sequence before switching to another color, allowing for alternating switch and non-switch trials.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

How was each 1-hour training day structured, and what was the purpose of the final block?

Each day had five blocks; the first four blocks were training tasks, and the fifth was a predictable comparison block used to assess learning under low cognitive control.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Which two cognitive constructs were measured as near transfer tasks in this study?

Working memory (measured by backward digit span) and cognitive control/task switching (measured by switch costs).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI

Which two cognitive abilities were measured as far transfer tasks in this study, and using which tests?

Abstract reasoning (using Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices) and episodic memory (using Story Recall).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI

How was the primary measure of switch cost calculated in the task switching paradigm?

By calculating the residuals obtained from regressing the average response time (RT) of non-switch trials from the average RT of switch trials.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What evidence of focus switch cost was found on Day 1 for both predictable and unpredictable training groups?

Response times for N = 2 were significantly slower than response times for N = 1 (by about 200-250 ms) in both groups.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Did the focus switch cost increase as a function of set size (N = 2, 3, 4) in the outer store on Day 1 in the predictable task?

No, the main effect of N was not significant, suggesting that the focus switch cost remained unchanged outside the FoA in the predictable task.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Did the overall learning rates (improvements in RT) differ significantly between the PT and UT groups over the 5 days of training?

No, the learning rates for both inside and outside the Focus of Attention were equivalent between the two groups.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Did the Focus of Attention (FoA) expand beyond one item after 5 hours of practice?

No, focus switch costs between N = 1 and N = 2 remained significant on Day 5, indicating that the FoA still held only one item.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

What were the primary group-level far transfer findings at immediate post-testing?

A medium effect size in favor of the Unpredictable Training (UT) group was found for story recall and a marginal, weaker effect for Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Did the Unpredictable Training (UT) show any significant long-term far transfer benefits compared to Predictable Training (PT) at delayed post-testing?

No, there were no significant long-term far transfer benefits observed at the delayed post-test session (1.5 months later).

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

Did either training group show significant transfer to backward digit span, the near transfer working memory task?

No, there were no observable group-level differences in backward span performance gains between the UT and PT groups.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

For the UT group, what did correlational analyses reveal about learning rates in the outer store and gains in far transfer?

Faster learning rates for manipulating items in the outer store were significantly correlated with larger gains in story recall and marginally with backward span.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified

How did baseline cognitive control capacity relate to how quickly participants learned the unpredictable training (UT) task?

Participants with higher baseline cognitive control (lower switch costs) learned the UT task significantly faster, whereas no such relationship was found for PT.

Source: To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults · DOI · quote verified