COGNITIVE-PHYSICAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION IMPROVES COGNITION AND SOCIAL SUPPORT IN OLDER ADULTS

Cognitive, physical and social activities are cognitively beneficial for older adults, but intervention has rarely been conducted in combination of these three components. This four-armed controlled non-randomized trial investigated the synergistic effects of a multimodal intervention on cognition, well-being and brain plasticity in a sample of healthy older adults. Four groups older adults respectively received multimodal intervention (cognitive training, Taichi exercise and group counseling), or cognitive plus Taichi training, or cognitive training, or lectures (active control group) during six weeks. Seventeen participants in the multimodal intervention group and 17 controls completed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning before and after intervention. Cognitive performance and well-being were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. A total of 156 participants completed intervention and 134 were available at follow-up. Compare to the control group, three intervention groups showed improvements to varying degrees on cognitive function. The cognitive plus Taichi group had largest increase with the multimodal group as the second best at post-intervention, while both group showed parallel maintenance effects on cognition at follow-up. Enhancement and maintenance in social support were only found in multimodal group. Moreover, multimodal intervention induced strengthened functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex and medial temporal lobe, as well as regional alterations of intrinsic activity in frontal, temporal and cerebellum regions. The results suggest that cognitive-physical-psychological intervention is helpful for preserving brain and cognitive function during old age, and has advantages in comprehensive promotion of both cognitive and emotional well-being.