Background. Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are highly vulnerable to develop cognitive dysfunctions, and the mitigating potential of early cognitive training (CT) is increasingly recognized. Predictors of CT responsiveness, which could help to tailor interventions individually, have rarely been studied in PD. This study aimed to examine individual characteristics of patients with PD associated with responsiveness to targeted working memory training (WMT). Methods. Data of 75 patients with PD (age: 63.99 ± 9.74 years, 93% Hoehn & Yahr stage 2) without cognitive dysfunctions from a randomized controlled trial were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Latent change score models with and without covariates were estimated and compared between the WMT group (n = 37), who participated in a 5-week adaptive WMT, and a waiting list control group (n = 38). Results. Latent change score models yielded adequate model fit (χ2-test p > .05, SRMR ≤ .08, CFI ≥ .95). For the near-transfer working memory composite, lower baseline performance, younger age, higher education, and higher fluid intelligence were found to significantly predict higher latent change scores in the WMT group, but not in the control group. For the far-transfer executive function composite, higher self-efficacy expectancy tended to significantly predict larger latent change scores. Conclusions. The identified associations between individual characteristics and WMT responsiveness indicate that there has to be room for improvement (e.g., lower baseline performance) and also sufficient “hardware” (e.g., younger age, higher intelligence) to benefit in training-related cognitive plasticity. Our findings are discussed within the compensation versus magnification account. They need to be replicated by methodological high-quality research applying advanced statistical methods with larger samples.

中文翻译：

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预测帕金森病的工作记忆训练反应：“系统硬件”和改进空间都需要

背景。帕金森病 (PD) 患者极易出现认知功能障碍，并且越来越多地认识到早期认知训练 (CT) 的缓解潜力。在 PD 中很少研究 CT 反应性的预测因子，这有助于单独定制干预措施。本研究旨在检查与对有针对性的工作记忆训练 (WMT) 的反应相关的 PD 患者的个体特征。方法。使用结构方程模型分析了来自随机对照试验的 75 名无认知功能障碍的 PD 患者（年龄：63.99 ± 9.74 岁，93% Hoehn & Yahr 2 期）的数据。在参与 5 周适应性 WMT 的 WMT 组（n = 37）之间估计和比较了具有和不具有协变量的潜在变化评分模型，和等待名单控制组（n = 38）。结果。潜在变化评分模型产生了足够的模型拟合（χ2 检验 p > .05，SRMR ≤ .08，CFI ≥ .95）。对于近转移工作记忆复合材料，发现较低的基线表现、较年轻的年龄、较高的教育和较高的流体智力可以显着预测 WMT 组中较高的潜在变化评分，但在对照组中则不然。对于远转移执行功能复合体，较高的自我效能预期往往显着预测较大的潜在变化分数。结论。个体特征与 WMT 反应性之间已确定的关联表明，必须有改进的空间（例如，较低的基线表现），并且还有足够的“硬件”（例如，更年轻、更高的智力）以受益于与训练相关的认知可塑性。我们的发现在补偿与放大帐户中进行了讨论。它们需要通过方法论的高质量研究进行复制，这些研究应用具有更大样本的先进统计方法。