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Cognitive training after CABG found beneficial in elderly population
Cognitive training along with the usual medical follow-up after surgery may reduce complications after CABG, according to research conducted in Montreal. Training that targets both attention and memory was found to be especially beneficial.
Researchers measured progress in 44 patients aged older than 65 years through regular follow-up after CABG. All participants underwent neuropsychological tests to measure cognitive function the day before surgery. The patients were then divided into three groups:
- A control group that received no follow-up cognitive training.
- A group that received memory training (method of loci and story generation) followed by attention training (dual-task computerized training).
- A group that received attention training followed by memory training.
Patients underwent follow-up neuropsychological tests. The control group was tested at 1, 3 and 6 months after surgery. The other two groups were tested at 1, 2, 3 and 6 months after surgery.
At 1 week after CABG, 68% of patients showed a post-operative cognitive decline, with 47% of patients showing a decline in Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test scores; 40% in Verbal Fluency; and 29% in the Digit Symbol subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-revised (WAIS-R). One month after surgery, 41% of patients still showed a cognitive decline, yet at 3 months, only 14% showed a cognitive decline. Three of these patients were in the control group, two in the attention training followed by memory training group and one in the group that received memory training before attention training.
The results showed that attention and memory training led to significant improvements in the domain that was trained, according to the researchers.
“It thus seems that cognitive training can be a promising tool to enhance cognitive functions after CABG surgery,” the researchers wrote.
“It is clear that seniors’ brains have a certain degree of plasticity, as we observed improvement in memory and attention even in subjects who did not undergo this training,” said Bherer in a press release. “In my opinion, this is a very useful discovery, as it suggests that patients should receive cognitive training in addition to the usual medical follow-up,” Louis Bherer, PhD, laboratory director and researcher at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, said in a press release..
Disclosure: This research was supported by an operating grant award from the Canadian Institute of Health Research and a scientist fellowship from the Fonds de Recherche en santé du Québec to Bherer.