Empowering Spatial Abilities in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The efficacy of a Spatial Training

Spatial ability is a high-order cognitive skill that plays an important role in daily problem solving. For this reason, the age-related decline in such an ability, which is well documented in the literature, prompts the search of ways to empower spatial cognition in older people so to support the quality of their life. In this perspective, an intervention program for middle-aged and older adults, called Visual-train, was devised. Thirty-two healthy volunteers aged 51–79 years took part in a four-week training period, consisting of three weekly 90-min sessions and daily homework assignments. Mental rotation improvements after the intervention were compared to those of 32 paired controls who received no intervention. Results indicated that Visual-train had a positive effect on mental rotation performance. Moreover, according to previous literature, the male superiority in mental rotation at baseline was found. Implications for reducing age-related decline in spatial cognition are discussed.