Prevent cognitive and physical impairments with a combination of physical and mental training.
The normal decline in mental and physical abilities in old age, which may end in dementia, is a major challenge for those affected and those around them.
In the “go4cognition” research project, an interdisciplinary team of specialists from various institutions – including neuropsychologists, sports scientists, doctors, care scientists and software developers – developed a new type of brain jogging that improves the mental and physical abilities of senior citizens.
Cognition – Mobility – Social Skills
Exercise, health and mental abilities are very closely linked. Exercise leads to health and a better sense of well-being. In addition, exercise also leads to an improvement in brain function and memory. Additional brain training brings further success in the development of mental abilities.
With go4cognition, 3 special areas are addressed and trained:
| Cognition: | Through games for memory, divided attention, word fluency, etc. |
| Mobility: | By walking; participants walk approximately 800 to 1000 meters in one training session. |
| Social skills: | The participants act and communicate with each other, solve tasks together, exchange ideas and look out for each other. |
Exercise
Participants train playfully in a group of up to 12 people. The training takes place once or twice a week for approx. 1.5 hours in a large room with 6 play stations.
Each player receives a light stick that remembers its owner electronically. The players line up at one station at a time, where they are then given a task, e.g. 1 5 2 4.
First the station displays the individual task, after a countdown the station name (number, letter, picture etc.).
The task is now to go to stations 1, 5, 2 and 4. It is important to memorize the stations and the sequence. At each station, the player puts down the baton so that the system recognizes who is there. The system dynamically increases or decreases the level depending on the player’s success.
After the preset rounds have been played, the players can display their results:
Games
go4cognition has various games for working memory and verbal fluency. The games are constantly being developed further.
In the memo games, players are given a task with various elements (numbers, letters, pictures, patterns and people) that they have to memorize. For example, in the Numbermemo the numbers 3, 2, 1, 4.
After an adjustable memorization time, the screens change their display and the players go through the stations with the numbers of their task. At each station, they place their personalized stick to identify themselves. As a rule, a player starts with 4 elements to memorize. The initial level is adjustable. After several rounds have been completed, the system calculates the next level of play for each player. If the player got more than 80% correct, he or she moves up a level and gets 5 elements to memorize in the next game. If less than 50% are correct, the level drops.
All memo games can also be played back and forth. In this type of game, the players not only go through the stations in the given order, but also go back through them afterwards.
The complexity of a game is also set at the start of the game. The game leader can set whether the participants play in a team or alone, how long the memorization time should be and whether the same 6 stations are always shown. There are numbers, letters, pictures, patterns and personalities to memorize.
In the word fluency games, the players work together in teams to form a word from different letters.
These games have two levels. First, the players form the correct word from the letters or syllables, then they memorize the corresponding numbers in the correct order. In these games, in which the players work together as a team to find a solution, communication and social interaction are trained alongside verbal fluency. Achieving success together leads to a stronger bond with the other players and also to new friendships.
The world tour appeals to the working memory in a different way, it is a self-ordered pointing task.
Players are shown a selection of different countries. They have to choose a country and go to the corresponding station. In the next round, the players are again shown a selection of different countries. This time, the players have to choose a country that they haven’t had before.
In “Proverb Quiz”, the player is shown randomly selected proverbs.
This game is also well suited for team play. The players discuss the missing words and add to their knowledge. The number of proverbs displayed corresponds to the level. Using the proverbs displayed, the players first find the missing word and then memorize the order of the individual words.
Proverbs can also have a special meaning for senior citizens, as they often grew up in a time when such words of wisdom were used more frequently in everyday life. Through the interaction and the joint search for solutions, the proverbs also serve as a welcome medium for an exchange of experiences.
System
The system consists of 7 stations, 12 play sticks and a technology case with a WiFi router and is available for purchase or hire. Customers are often facilities that offer activities for senior citizens, both in-house and in the neighborhood.
A station consists of:
- the stand,
- of the base, which lies on the stand,
- the tablet, which can be set upright at an angle in the base.
The stand consists of two parts and can be inserted into each other.
Asgo4cognition is mostly used in environments where the stations cannot be left standing permanently, we have designed a trolley. All the appliances you need can be easily stowed away on it to save space.
The trolley and its components can be easily dismantled into their individual parts for easy transportation.
Research project
Cognition
The study on cognition carried out by Ruhr University Bochum was published in the “Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease”. It shows significant improvements in cognitive abilities. 70% of the participants with MCI were lifted into the non-MCI range as a result of the training.
Here you can find the paper of the study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38669526/
go4cognition: Evaluation of a Newly Developed Multicomponent Intervention in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Liseck et al., J Alzheimers Dis 2024 Apr 26.
Abstract
Background: Cognitive training and physical exercise show positive effects on cognitive decline in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Multimodal interventions for MCI patients, combining physical and cognitive training in a social context seem to slow down cognitive decline.
Objective: Based on a previous study, a new mobile gamification tool (go4cognition; https://www.go4community.de) was developed to train cognitive and physical functions simultaneously in a group environment. It involves tasks targeting various cognitive functions (short-term memory, working memory, executive functions). The computer-based setup allows for individual performance analysis. This study evaluated the effects of this tool.
Methods: 30 participants with MCI, as defined by the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) cut-off-score, aged between 66 and 89 years, trained for one hour two days a week for twelve weeks. Additionally, standard neuropsychological assessment of memory and attention was carried out before and after the intervention.
Results: The go4cognition device is highly effective in improving various cognitive functions. A significant improvement in the CERAD total score resulting in re-classification of 70% of former MCI patients into non-MCI patients was found. Additionally, an improvement of verbal fluency, verbal memory, spatial memory, and attention was observed. Furthermore, the CERAD total score was significantly correlated with performance in the go4cognition tool.
Conclusions: The results of the intervention support the idea of the effectiveness of a combined cognitive and motor intervention by incorporating neuropsychological paradigms in a group setting and suggest a close relation between combined cognitive and physical exercise and cognitive performance.
Physical Activity
The study on exercise carried out by Witten-Herdecke University shows an increase of 30% in the number of steps walked on training days compared to days without training.
Preventing dementia – activating senior citizens
In order to prevent the threat of dementia and to activate senior citizens, an interdisciplinary team of specialists from various institutions – including neuropsychologists, sports scientists, doctors, care scientists and software developers – developed a new type of memory training with exercise that improves the mental and physical abilities of senior citizens in the “go4cognition” research project.
This project was funded by the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
go4cognition: Furter informationen
Would you like to receive more information about go4cognition, the target group and our services? Call us:
Dr. Stefan Orth (GF)
Phone: +49 (202) 37155-10
You can also send us your request via our contact form. We will get back to you as soon as possible:
This post is also available in: German
