Adaptive vs. non-adaptive cognitive training by means of a personalized App: a randomized trial in people with multiple sclerosis.
Ludovico Pedullà, Giampaolo Brichetto, Andrea Tacchino and 5 others
PMID 27716336WHAT IT FOUND
Adaptive working memory training improved attention, processing speed, and memory more than non-adaptive training in people with multiple sclerosis.
The benefits persisted for six months, whereas the non-adaptive group showed no change over time.
Key findings
01The adaptive training group showed significant improvement from baseline to post-treatment in six out of ten cognitive tests, while the non-adaptive control group did not.
02The improvements in the adaptive group were maintained six months after the end of the training, whereas the non-adaptive group's performance did not change across time points.
03Both groups had high adherence to the home-based training program, with no significant difference between them.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (28 participants analyzed). The two groups had a significant difference in one baseline memory test (SRT-LTS), which could influence interpretation. The 6-month follow-up assessment was limited to only two cognitive tests (SDMT and PASAT-3) to reduce patient burden, so long-term effects on other domains are unknown. There were dropouts at follow-up, which were handled using a last-observation-carried-forward analysis.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. The study was conducted at the Italian MS Society Rehabilitation Centre of Genoa.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that any computerized cognitive training will produce these results. The benefit was specifically linked to the adaptive nature of the training, where difficulty increased based on performance. The non-adaptive control group, which performed the same exercises at a constant low difficulty, showed no significant improvement.