Many studies have indicated a weakening in several areas of cognitive functioning associated with the normal ageing process. One of the methods supporting cognitive functions in older adults is dual-task training which is based on performing cognitive and motor exercises at the same time. The study aimed at examining the characteristics of dual-task training compared to single-task training in participants over 65 years of age. Sixty-five subjects took part in the study. They were randomly assigned to three groups: dual-task cognitive-motor training (CM), single-task cognitive training (CT), and single-task motor training (MT). The training program in all groups encompassed 4 weeks and consisted of three, 30-min meetings a week. Specialized software was designed for the study. The main indicators, such as orientation and planning time and the number of errors, were monitored during the whole training in all groups. The obtained results have shown that the dual-task training was associated with a significantly greater number of movement errors, but not with a longer task planning time compared to the single-task condition training. There was a decrease in the time needed to plan a path in the mazes by subjects training in the CM, CT, and MT groups. The results indicate that after each type of training, the number of errors and the time needed to plan the path decrease, despite the increasing difficulty of the tasks. The length of planning time was strongly correlated with the number of errors made by individuals in the CM group (r = 0.74, p = 0.04), compared to the ST group—for which the said correlation was not significant (r = 0.7, p = 0.06). The dual-task cognitive-motor training is more cognitively demanding compared to the single-task cognitive and motor training. It manifests in a greater number of errors, but it does not extend the orientation and planning time.
1 March 2017 in Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska
Susac's Syndrome (SS) is a rare, autoimmune angiopathy characterized by hearing loss, retinal artery occlusions and encephalopathy, which is usually expressed in multifocal neurological signs and symptoms, confusion state and cognitive impairment. There have been few descriptions of neuropsychological assessment of SS. We present a case study of 29-year-old woman who developed full SS. During the post-acute stage of disease, she was admitted to neurorehabilitation ward to improve her cognitive-behavioral and motor functioning. The initial assessment revealed attention, memory and executive dysfunctions, as well as behavioral changes including impulsivity, affective dysregulation and reduced self-awareness of disease deficits. After five weeks recovery process supported by rehabilitation program, improvement was observed, although some cognitive-behavioral deficits were still present in the follow-up assessment.