Memory often deteriorates significantly with age. Is there something we can do to avoid that? The University of Trento has been investigating the subject to find possible solutions.
To this end, the University coordinated a research study that describes the efficacy of task repetition as a way to improve the mental performance of elderly people. Tasks that would help the over 65 population improve their ability to focus and memorize objects. The results of the work were published today in Scientific Reports and reveal the potential to fight cognitive deterioration.
The study was conducted by Chiara Tagliabue and her colleagues of the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC) of the University of Trento in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, with financial support from Fondazione Caritro (Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto). The goal of the researchers was to explore the potential for memory strengthening in the elderly. The work is part of Rare-Net (“Reversing Age and Resilience in the Elderly”), a strategic project on healthy ageing promoted by the University of Trento and coordinated by Veronica Mazza, associate professor at CIMeC.
The researchers focused in particular on visual and spatial working memory, which is the ability we use to remember "what" and "where" things are, the first ability to deteriorate when we age.
The study found that repeating a memory task helps revitalize mental health. A group of 24 elderly people (aged between 65 and 80) and a control group made up of younger individuals visited the Experimental Psychology Labs of CIMeC for four days in a row. During the day, they were asked to memorize a variable number of colored geometric shapes. On the first and fourth day of tests, the brain activity of the participants was monitored using an EEG while they were working on the memorization tasks.
"The memorizing ability of the elderly participants – commented Veronica Mazza, senior author of the study – improved after only four sessions of task repetition. By combining the accuracy of the participants' responses and data on their brain activity, the study managed to reveal the mechanisms that led to improved memory. In particular, the participants improved their abilities to pay attention to important things (like the grocery list, for example), and this helped them better remember these items at a later moment. The study therefore suggests that improving attention mechanisms (for example, by reducing distractions) brings other benefits to different brain abilities".
To investigate the improvement of performance and the main brain mechanisms involved in the process, the researchers combined different behavioral (accuracy) and electrophysiological (cerebral) measures.
In conclusion, "based on our results, further studies on the effectiveness of various measures may help improve cognitive skills in the elderly".
About the article
The article “Learning by task repetition enhances object individuation and memorization in the elderly” was written for “Scientific Reports” by Chiara Tagliabue, Giulia Cristoforetti and Veronica Mazza (University of Trento, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences CIMeC), with Sara Assecondi (University of Birmingham, School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health CHBH, now researcher at CIMeC thanks to a Caritro grant), and was published on 17 November 2020.
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The paper is available in Open Access
(DOI)