In this study, we investigated whether alertness training in healthy older adults increases visual processing speed (VPS) and whether functional connectivity in the cingulo-opercular network predicts training gain. Using the theory of visual attention, we derived quantitative estimates of VPS before and after training. In Study 1, 75 healthy older adults participated in alertness training, active-control training, or no training (n = 25 each). A significant Group × Session interaction indicated an increase in VPS in the alertness-training group but not in the control group, despite VPS not differing significantly between groups before training. In Study 2, 29 healthy older adults underwent resting-state functional MRI and then participated in alertness training. Pretraining functional connectivity in the cingulo-opercular network correlated with the individual training-induced change in VPS. In conclusion, results indicate that alertness training improves visual processing in older adults and that functional connectivity in the cingulo-opercular network provides a neural marker for predicting individual training gain.

在这项研究中，我们调查了健康老年人的警觉性训练是否会提高视觉处理速度 (VPS)，以及扣带 - 鳃盖网络中的功能连接是否可以预测训练增益。使用视觉注意理论，我们得出了训练前后 VPS 的定量估计。在研究 1 中，75 名健康老年人参加了警觉性训练、主动控制训练或不接受训练（n= 每个 25）。尽管训练前各组之间的 VPS 没有显着差异，但显着的组 × 会话交互表明警觉性训练组的 VPS 有所增加，但对照组没有。在研究 2 中，29 名健康老年人接受了静息状态功能 MRI，然后参加了警觉性训练。扣带-鳃盖网络中的预训练功能连接与个体训练引起的 VPS 变化相关。总之，结果表明警觉性训练改善了老年人的视觉处理，并且扣带 - 鳃盖网络中的功能连接提供了预测个人训练增益的神经标记。