Subjectively appreciated benefits from cognitive fitness interventions in older women.

Abstract

In a recent randomized controlled trial we showed that a mental and a physical activity program were effective to enhance or maintain cognitive fitness. A positive perception of one’s own cognitive fitness is an important condition for high self-efficacy beliefs and, thus, can sustain independence in old age. Here, we pose the question whether objective cognitive benefits are reflected in subjective perceptions of memory and concentration.Healthy women (N = 259), aged 70 to 93 years, were randomized to participate for six months in either computer lessons or physical exercises or as controls. In addition to pre-post-tests of memory and executive function, perceived changes in memory and concentration were captured at baseline, at four and at six months and at a ten-month follow-up. Multilevel linear modelling was used to compare trends over time.Despite comparable objective cognitive benefits from the mental and the physical interventions (in contrast to the control group), only the women in the computer course perceived benefits in memory, F(2, 707.9) = 4.31, p = .01, and concentration, F(2, 714.2) = 4.75, p = .009. The exercise group, in contrast, rated only physical health as having improved, F(2, 562.0) = 4.63, p = .01.The perception of cognitive benefits seems to be biased towards the obvious type of interventions, i.e., gains are perceived in the corresponding activity domain only. A sensitization for transfer effects could enhance motivation and satisfaction with the outcomes in participants of intervention programs and may also be beneficial in terms of practical relevance.