EFFECTIVENESS AND TRANSFER OF COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE TRAINING ON COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOMOTOR FUNCTIONS IN OLDER ADULTS DURING PROLONGED. INACTIVITY

The effects of reduced physical activity or increased physical inactivity on the human body, in particular on cognition and psychomotor functions are less known and less thoroughly investigated than the effects of physical activity on human health and general well-being. Bed rest studies were recognized as a valid model for simulating and studying an acute stage of human adaptation to the microgravity in space flights, the impact of long-term postoperative immobilization and sedentary lifestyle. We tested the hypothesis whether CCT could be an intervention of choice to prevent the negative effects of bed rest not just on cognitive, but also on psychomotor functions of human body. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first bed rest study with a computerized cognitive training (CCT) intervention. The results showed that after a 14 -day bed rest and 12 sessions of CCT, the participants in the Intervention group significantly improved their performance in the virtual maze (p =.076, 12 = 0.239) with some additional transfer on the subtest (p = .040,112 =0.67), which measured attention and psychomotor speed. Moreover, our intervention was also found to be an effective tool for preventing the negative effects of bed rest on the psychomotor level of the human body. Participants in the Intervention group significantly reduced dual-task costs (p = .008, eta(2) = 0.313) during their gait performance at the end of the bed rest. The results from our study suggest a possible link between CCT and psychomotor output and open a new perspective on basic research on developing new methods for preventing the detrimental effects of prolonged inactivity.