Entrenamiento cognitivo de la memoria de trabajo en adultos mayores para un envejecimiento saludable

Abstract

Ageing is commonly associated with cognitive impairment and the loss of other abilities, especially regarding to work memory, that is a function that allows receiving a quantity of information, support it in the short term and operate with it until a preestablished objective is reached. This function becomes slower in an elderly age; as a result, it is necessary to investigate preventive interventions to promote positive ageing, in order to achieve a reduction in the prevalence of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer, senile dementia and others, which have a considerable impact on the context near elderlies. The objective of the project was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive training. This was focused on the guided practice of standardized tasks and especially designed to improve certain cognitive functions, in this particular case, working memory, which contributes to the behavior, daily functioning and state of mind. The study responds to a qualitative-quantitative, quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test measurement using the subtest "Working Memory" by NEUROPSI: Attention and Memory to a single group of 20 elderly people who also received an intervention through cognitive stimulation activities that are present in the book “Cuaderno de Ejercicios de Estimulación Cognitiva para reforzar la Memoria” (by Ansón, et al., 2015) where a significant difference was identified for the subtest "Digit retention regression" (Retención de dígitos en regresión) comparing the pretest and the postest, whereas for "Cubic regression" there was not such difference. Thus, cognitive training denotes efficacy in improving and/or maintaining working memory function in elderlies.