Is the IntelligenceGym an effective tool to improve cognitive performance in vascular dementia?

Background and aims: Several studies have shown that the capacity of working memory (WM) could be an indicator of performance in several other cognitive tasks: from simple attentional tasks to tasks requiring more compound capabilities. There are many cognitive training strategies, but none of them uses more different cognitive activities during the class. We hypothesized that by changing activities during the class we will have more efficacy to improve cognitive abilities including WM. This study investigated the effectiveness of WM training created by us (IntelligenceGym) to improve cognitive functions in older adults with mild vascular dementia (VaD). Methods: The study subjects were 108 VaD patients, 42 men and 66 women, with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores of 19 to 23 at inclusion. All of them had initially reduced WM capacity level. We have created two groups: Dual-Task Group and IntelligenceGym Group, each 27 people. We proposed them to perform training one hour twice a week for 24 weeks. Cognitive performance was assessed before and after intervention included MMSE, Forward and Backward Digit Span Test, Rey's Auditory Verbal Learning test (RAVLT), TMT-A, TMT-B. Results: The cognitive assessment showed statistically significant improvement in all two groups in all the scores tested (t-test performed). The results showed that participants of the IntelligenceGym Group had significantly higher performance in Backward Digit Span Test, RAVLT and TMT-B, than the Dual Task Group. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the IntelligenceGym training is an efficient tool to improve cognitive performance in older adults with VaD.