AbstractObjectives: A common cognitive complaint of older adulthood is distractibility, or decline in ability to concentrate and maintain focus, yet few evidence-based interventions exist to address these deficits. We implemented s pilot trial of an evidence-based executive function training program, to investigate whether training in applied goal-directed attention regulation and problem solving would enhance executive control abilities in a sample of cognitively normal older adults with self-reported complaints of concentration problems.Method: Consecutively recruited participants were placed into small groups and randomized to either Goal-Oriented Attentional Self-Regulation training (GOALS; N = 15) or a closely matched Brain Health Education program (BHE; N = 15).Results: GOALS participants significantly improved on: neurocognitive measures of mental flexibility (p = 0.03, partial eta squared = 0.23); real-world setting functional performance measures of: task failures (p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.88), task rule breaks (p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 1.06), and execution (p = 0.04, Cohen's d = 0.76); and in-lab functional assessment of goal-directed behaviour divergent thinking scale (p = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.95). All participants improved on a neurocognitive measure of planning (p = 0.01, partial eta squared = 0.031). BHE participants' improvement over and above GOALS participants was limited to: rule adherence on the real world task (p = 0.04, Cohen's d = 0.99), and evaluator rating (p = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.56), and average score (p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.71) on the in-lab functional task.Conclusion: Participation in GOALS training can enhance executive control, and lead to real-world functional improvements, for cognitively normal older adults with self-reported attention difficulties.

中文翻译：

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老年人的目标导向注意力自我调节（GOALS）培训。

摘要目的：成年人成年后的常见认知障碍是注意力不集中，或专注和保持注意力的能力下降，但针对这些缺陷的循证干预措施很少。我们实施了一项基于证据的执行功能培训计划的试验性试验，以调查针对自我报告的专注力问题的认知正常老年人样本中的应用目标导向注意力调节和问题解决培训是否会增强执行控制能力方法：将连续招募的参与者分成小组，随机分为目标导向的注意自我调节训练（GOALS; N = 15）或紧密匹配的脑健康教育计划（BHE; N = 15）。结果：GOALS参与者在以下方面有明显改善：心理柔韧性的神经认知测量（p = 0.03，部分eta平方= 0.23）；实际设置功能性能的度量标准：任务失败（p = 0.02，Cohen d = 0.88），任务规则中断（p = 0.02，Cohen d = 1.06）和执行（p = 0.04，Cohen d = 0.76）；以及目标导向行为发散性思维量表的实验室功能评估（p = 0.03，Cohen d = 0.95）。所有参与者的神经认知测量均得到改善（p = 0.01，部分eta平方= 0.031）。BHE参与者对GOALS参与者的改进仅限于：对现实世界任务的遵守规则（p = 0.04，Cohen d = 0.99），评估者评分（p = 0.03，Cohen d = 0.56）和平均分数（p = 0.02，Cohen的d = 0.71）在实验室内功能任务上。