In long term cognitive training sessions, carried out in schools as Instituto Supera de Educação, which use the abacus as the main stimulus of cognitive training, progressively more complex calculations are carried out until the participant attains their maximum level and performance. It represents numbers via an arrangement of beads in columns, each column representing a place value that increases from right to left. 16, 17 The abacus is a kind of mechanical calculating device used in Eastern and Asian countries since 1200 AD to perform arithmetic, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and root calculations (see Figures 1 and and2). These interventions aimed to stimulate attention and reasoning, as well as elucidate potential transfer effects to other cognitive abilities. Some interventions have been run to document the benefits of abacus training in young children. the longer the session, the better the performance on verbal short-term memory tests. Another factor found to influence short-term memory, in this case verbal, was session duration, i.e. Number of sessions, however, appeared to impact visuospatial short-term memory, and greater number of sessions was associated with better WM performance by participants.
The authors demonstrated that the factors age, number of training days per week, time between sessions, modality (group or individual), and absence or presence of feedback were not associated with the effectiveness of the training. To this end, WM interventions were performed in a cohort aged from 4 to 71 years. Regarding distal transfer tests, benefits were also seen for the experimental group versus the control group in fluid intelligence, episodic memory, attention, inhibitory control and processing speed, but training effects were less marked for processing speed.Īnother meta-analysis, by Schwaighofer et al., 15 encompassing 47 articles, investigated the effect of different factors on the outcome of WM training. On these tasks, the experimental group displayed better performance than both the control and active control groups. The authors showed that an intervention centering on WM had a positive impact in the group that underwent training relative to the control group, for both target tasks and proximal transfer tasks.
Karbach and Verhaeghen 14 carried out a meta-analysis of 49 articles assessing the effects of WM training in young and older adults.
9 These areas are affected by aging, and this process can lead to impaired performance of WM tasks in older adults. In order to function, WM recruits areas such as the pre-frontal cortex, hippocampus and also the entorhinal cortex, superior parietal lobules and anterior cingulate cortex. 8 Thus, WM represents a dynamic capacity which works like a system for retention, retrieval and temporary manipulation of multiple items of information that serves as a basis for executing complex tasks. Working memory (WM) is a cognitive mechanism defined as a short-term memory subsystem with the capacity to store and process data simultaneously in a short period of time. 5 Trained individuals can show greater health promotion, improved quality of life and less deficits in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). These interventions include theory and practice with cognitive exercises to promote improved performance, and can have positive effects on the everyday lives of older adults. 3 and McDermott et al., 4 systematic review and meta-analysis studies, have shown that cognitive stimulation interventions have favourable results on cognitive and physical functions, social interaction, activities of daily living, quality of life and well-being of individuals with dementia, with the possibility of overcoming effects of medicinal products.Ĭognitive stimulation is a type of non-pharmacological educational intervention aimed at enhancing cognitive functioning in cognitively healthy individuals and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) through the use of mnemonic strategies. According to the theory behind the concept of cognitive reserve, greater brain activity can slow the onset of cognitive impairment, even in extremely old people.
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