Abstract

Across the UK, ever increasing numbers of older adults with mild dementia urgently need interventions that may improve their cognitive and functional abilities, or at least slow down their cognitive/functional decline. Cognitive training (CT) is a non-pharmacological approach targeting specific cognitive processes through repeated practice on standardised cognitive tasks. Interest in CT across the lifespan, including in older adults with and without cognitive impairment, has grown exponentially in recent years, with numerous publications on the topic appearing every year. To date, reviews on the efficacy of CT for persons with dementia have yielded mixed findings, and a booming commercial industry has emerged, an industry which at times exploits the uncertainty in the field by making ethically-questionable claims regarding therapeutic values of their products. Whereas there is some evidence of therapeutic benefits associated with CT among older adults who are cognitively healthy or who show mild cognitive impairment, previous versions of this Cochrane review failed to find evidence of meaningful benefit for people with mild dementia. Due to the accelerating rate of trial publications in this area, there is a pressing need for an update of this review, which is now expected to yield firmer conclusions.