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Testing the Benefits of Cognitive Training vs. Cognitive Stimulation in Mild Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2017

E. Tsantali ,
D. Economidis  and
S. Rigopoulou
E. Tsantali*
Affiliation:
B Internal Medicine, Medical School, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
D. Economidis
Affiliation:
B Internal Medicine, Medical School, Hippocration Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
S. Rigopoulou
Affiliation:
Agios Pavlos, General Hospital, Neurologic Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Address for correspondence: Eleni Tsantali, Merkouriou 5, Thessaloniki 54655, Greece. E-mail: info@tsantalieleni.gr
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Abstract

Purpose: To undertake a randomised controlled trial to test the benefits of cognitive training (CT) vs. cognitive stimulation (CS) on general cognitive function and memory in mild Alzheimer's disease (mAD).

Method: A consecutive series of 55 mAD outpatients was randomly allocated to one of the three conditions, namely two experimental interventions (CT and CS; 17 participants each) and a control dementia (no intervention) group (CD; 21 participants). Participants in the experimental conditions received a 4-month individual intervention programme.

Results: The participants in the CT condition demonstrated a large improvement in general cognitive state with moderate gains in areas of memory targeted by the intervention (semantic memory, naming and retrieval ability) 12 months after baseline measurement compared to the other two conditions. In addition, CT seemed to generalise the other cognitive abilities that were not directly targeted with small gains noted in other domains of cognition (prospective memory, face recognition, name a person) compared to CS and CD. Participants in both the CS and CD conditions showed significant general cognitive decline, even though CS was found to ameliorate the trajectory of this decline.

Keywords

mild Alzheimer's diseaseneurodegenerative disorderscognitive trainingcognitive stimulation
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , September 2017 , pp. 188 - 196
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 2017 

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