A total of 19 healthy controls (HCs) and six patients with PD were included in the study. While all PD patients received cognitive training, the HC sample was subdivided into 12 subjects with training (HC-T) and 10 subjects without (HC-NT). Participants underwent a double baseline assessment, a post-training assessment, and a 3-month follow up on neuropsychological tests and self-report measures on fatigue and depression.

Training was administered between the second baseline and postassessment. It comprised 16 supervised sessions according to a standardized training protocol over 4 weeks. The efficacy of the applied computerized cognitive training tool BrainStim could be verified in patients with PD and healthy age-matched controls. The preliminary findings highlighted the suitability of a specific cognitive intervention to improve cognitive inefficiencies in patients with PD as well as in healthy older people. Further research on cognitive training in combination with PD drug therapy is needed to better understand the mutual interaction and to offer optimal therapeutic approaches to patients. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative illness with an age-dependent prevalence increase.

It is often accompanied by psychiatric symptoms such as depression (25–50%), anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks (about 40%) []. Some 15,000 Swiss inhabitants and 6.3 million people worldwide currently suffer from PD []. The disease is based on a breakdown of certain nerve cells within the midbrain (substantia nigra pars compacta) that are responsible for the production of the central neurotransmitter dopamine [].

A lack of dopamine can cause dysfunction in physical and mental mechanisms including motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, rigidity, postural instability, and resting tremor but also cognitive loss, even in the early stages of the disease []. Patients with PD often show mild cognitive impairment in at least one cognitive domain such as episodic memory (69%), executive functions (54%), visuospatial/construction (46%), and working memory/attention (35%) [], which is most obviously associated with a faster thinning of the gray matter []. There also seems to be a positive correlation between bradykinesia, working memory, and mental flexibility on the one hand, and postural instability, gait disturbances, and changes in visuospatial memory on the other []. Cognitive inefficiencies often remain undiagnosed and untreated [], though they are an indicator of poorer quality of life independent of other disease factors []. Working memory in particular, including information processing speed, episodic memory, and mental flexibility, which are important processes for everyday functioning, has been given attention [, ]. The working memory model was conceptualized by Baddeley and Hitch and comprises three main components called the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the central executive []. The phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad are short-term storage systems (slave systems) that maintain and process verbal and visuospatial information. Winning Eleven 2002 English Version Iso Burner.

May 15, 2014. Abstract: The current study evaluates a depression prevention program for adolescents led by psychologists vs. Teachers in comparison to a control. The universal school-based prevention program has shown its efficacy in several studies when implemented by psychologists. The current study compares.

The central executive controls the information flow from and to both slave systems. Due to increasing awareness of cognitive deficiencies in PD, current research focuses on drug therapy to solve not only motor symptoms but also to deal with mental dysfunction [].

Lewis and colleagues found a positive association between L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) medication and working memory measured by accuracy and response time during an intra-/extra-dimensional set-shifting task []. However, findings on cognitive benefit out of dopamine replacements are mixed []. Certainly, there is already evidence in favor of computerized cognitive training in healthy subjects by demonstrating improvements in working memory and changes in brain biochemistry concerning the density of cortical dopamine D1 receptors []. Some research on cognitive rehabilitation in patients with PD revealed promising results in terms of supporting mental activity [;;;;; ]. Thus, drug therapy combined with computerized cognitive training might achieve a more favorable benefit when compared with pharmacotherapy alone [].