title: Interactive computer-based cognitive training in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The present paper presents data from ten patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), all of whom were trained to use an interactive computer-based program. Using photographs of the patient and his or her personal surroundings, an everyday task of relevance to the patient was simulated on a PC-touch screen, which the patient was trained to operate. After three weeks of training (three to four sessions a week), the patients needed less help in performing the programs, they became faster, and eight out of ten made fewer mistakes. The results were most pronounced in patients with a poor performance at the beginning, and there was no difference between early-onset (EO) and late-onset (LO) AD patients. Although the training was generally well received, there was no evidence of a general cognitive improvement, and it remains an open question whether the results achieved with PC training can be transferred to real-life situations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kühler
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Müller-Spahn
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001364:Awareness; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003197:Computer Literacy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D009949:Orientation; D012984:Software