title: Promoting theory of mind in older adults: does age play a role?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous research on age-related changes in Theory of Mind (ToM) showed a decline in older adults, particularly pronounced over 75 years of age. Evidence that ToM may be enhanced in healthy aging people has been demonstrated, but no study has focused on the role of age on the effects of ToM training for elderly people. The present study was designed to examine the efficacy of a ToM training on practiced (ToM Strange Stories) and transfer tasks (ToM Animations) in both young and older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 127 older adults belonging to two age groups: young-old (Mage = 64.41; SD = 2.49; range: 60-69 years) and old-old (Mage = 75.66; SD = 4.38; range: 70-85 years), randomly assigned to either a ToM group or a control group condition. All participants took part in two 2-hour testing sessions and four 2-hour training sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that both young-old and old-old adults in the ToM group condition improved their ability to reason on complex-mental states significantly more than participants in the control group condition. This positive effect of the training was evident on practiced and transfer ToM tasks. Crucially, age did not moderate the effect of the ToM training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate that young-old and old-old adults equally benefit from the ToM training. Implications for the positive effect of the ToM training in old-old adults are discussed.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.affiliation: b Headache Science Centre , National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bottiroli
authors.affiliation: a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.affiliation: a Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lecce
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D056345:Theory of Mind; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: aging; old–old; role of age; theory of mind; training; young–old