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Cognitive rehabilitation in the elderly: Effects on strategic behavior in relation to goal management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2006

BRIAN LEVINE
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DONALD T. STUSS
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine (Rehabilitation Sciences), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GORDON WINOCUR
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine (Psychiatry), University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
MALCOLM A. BINNS
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
LOUISE FAHY
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MARINA MANDIC
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
KRISTEN BRIDGES
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
IAN H. ROBERTSON
Affiliation:
Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Executive functions are highly sensitive to the effects of aging and other conditions affecting frontal lobe function. Yet there are few validated interventions specifically designed to address executive functions, and, to our knowledge, none validated in a healthy aging sample. As part of a large-scale cognitive rehabilitation randomized trial in 49 healthy older adults, a modified Goal Management Training program was included to address the real-life deficits caused by executive dysfunction. This program emphasized periodic suspension of ongoing activity to establish goal hierarchies and monitor behavioral output. Tabletop simulated real-life tasks (SRLTs) were developed to measure the processes targeted by this intervention. Participants were randomized to two groups, one of which received the intervention immediately and the other of which was wait-listed prior to rehabilitation. Results indicated improvements in SRLT performance and self-rated executive deficits coinciding with the training in both groups. These gains were maintained at long-term follow-up. Future research will assess the specificity of these effects in patient groups (JINS, 2007, 13, 143–152.)

Type
REHAB SERIES
Copyright
© 2007 The International Neuropsychological Society

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