Cognitive training for the elderly is a very useful therapeutic resource that makes it possible to stop the decline of certain mental capacities.

As we enter old age, there are several aspects of our psychological abilities that may be at their best. The fact that we have learned from decades of experience, if we know how to take advantage of it, makes us wiser and more discerning about many things.

However, it is also true that old age comes with limitations associated with the passage of time and its effects on our body, including our nervous system.

Cognitive training for the elderly is precisely a tool with which we psychologists help to cushion this mental wear and tear. Because although it is true that practically no person of retirement age is as mentally agile as when they were 20, the assistance of psychology professionals can have a very positive impact.

What is cognitive training?

We call cognitive training the set of techniques and strategies used by specialists in psychological intervention to help those who need it to preserve basic cognitive abilities.

Among these mental skills we find the use of language, memorization, the ability to differentiate between stimuli, the ability to concentrate, writing, the sense of orientation , etc. In other words, all those faculties that allow us to solve specific problems, decide on the best options for action and learn from what happens to us.

Cognitive training can be used in patients of almost all ages, but its application to the elderly is especially frequent , because the elderly benefit especially from its effects. With this type of patient, the aim is to slow down the weakening of these cognitive skills as much as possible.

It is for this reason, among others, that one of my main lines of work is cognitive training for the elderly: the simple passage of time means that practically everyone who passes the threshold of retirement can experience advantages in their mental and communicative performance by undergoing several sessions of this type of intervention.

Why do cognitive skills decline with age?

As we have seen, in people who have entered the stage of old age, cognitive training is useful regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with a particular condition or syndrome , given that the decline in cognitive abilities is generally assumed to be normal in these ages. Now… why does this loss of psychological skills occur?

Aging of the brain

Aging can be seen directly in the tissues of the brain, just as it can be seen in the skin of people. This change in appearance, by which the cerebral cortex shrinks a little, reflects changes at the functional level in the nervous system: neurons no longer work as efficiently because of metabolic and structural changes in the nerve cells, and because of the death of many neurons.

Tendency towards sedentarism

Another aspect to take into account is that older people tend to be less physically active than other age groups, due to lack of energy and physical limitations such as joint pain or loss of muscle mass. This makes it easier to fall into a sedentary life, in which there is not a great variety of stimuli and therefore the person rarely encounters cognitive challenges.

Adopting a Comfortable Lifestyle

In line with what we have seen in the previous paragraph, older people tend to follow habits of life that fit in with what they already know and with what they can do. One of the causes of this is that as we grow up, we find environments and contexts that match our innate potential, that which by genetic inheritance does not cost us much to do.

For example, if someone has a flair for creativity, it is quite possible that they will reach retirement by using much of their free time to paint, and already have family and friends who appreciate and support these initiatives. This is not bad in itself, of course, but it is still a way of keeping us away from what is challenging, something new to us. Cognitive training for the elderly breaks with this “comfort zone” logic .

How is psychological intervention carried out?

What is the methodology that we psychologists use when intervening with cognitive training for elderly patients? In my work, the 3 phases in which this process takes place are the following.

1. Evaluation

First, the person must be assessed to determine the extent to which the cognitive impairment produced by old age significantly affects his or her abilities. To this end, I apply a pre-test that serves to establish the baseline of performance, the state of the patient prior to the mental training he or she will undergo.

Furthermore, this not only serves to know in which skills fail most and which capacities are most preserved (and to what extent they are), but also allows to monitor progress, to check whether the set objectives are being reached .

2. Psychological intervention sessions

If the previous stage was characterized by the collection of information, this stage involves the intervention of the patient. In my case, weekly visits are programmed to CECOPS, where I attend directly to the person who needs professional intervention; these visits can be done individually or in group sessions , depending on the specific needs of each person.

It is important to note that in cognitive training sessions for the elderly we psychologists do not simply give information : this would not be a real training, but an informative talk. While transmitting the theory of what happens is important, what is fundamental is the activities of a psychological nature that are carried out by the patients, under the supervision of the psychologist.

These activities can be focused on different domains of human cognition: memorization, use of language, use of guidelines to know what to do in each moment, etc.

3. Practice at home

Although psychological intervention sessions in the psychologist’s office are very important, it is necessary not to “disconnect” from what is learned there between sessions. It is necessary to learn these days to consolidate and reinforce these learnings .

Therefore, another function that we psychologists have is to motivate and inform patients so that they can find moments to apply certain psychological exercises in their day-to-day life. This is not very different from what happens when we want to make progress at school or at university: we have to study regardless of whether there are classes that day or not.

On the other hand, as psychological welfare professionals, psychologists also like to have a constant and fluid communication with the close environment of patients exposed to situations of a certain vulnerability; normally, these people are family members. Thanks to this, we achieve that in their home there is also a context that encourages the person to continue progressing, and that can help them reach their goals.