Objective: This study examined healthy older adults aged 80-97 years living in residential care, comparing gains in executive functioning after a 3-week supervised action videogame intervention to a care-as-usual control group.
Materials and Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group: experimental participants engaged in videogame training using Star Wars Battlefront©, a commercially available videogame, while the control group received care as usual with no training. Training in the experimental condition consisted of 6 training sessions of 30 minutes each, which were completed in 3 weeks. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological and quality of life assessments immediately before (pre-test), after (post-test), and 1 month after (follow-up) training.
Results: The experimental group showed significant improvement on measures of visual attention and task switching, which were sustained and continued to improve one month following conclusion of game play. Working memory also improved in the gaming group; however, after one month of no game play, memory improvements regressed toward baseline.
Conclusion: Visual attention and task switching appear to have been more labile than working memory. Results support incorporation of video game play as a leisure option for older adults, which may also play a role in enhancing cognitive health. The findings extend previous research conducted below age 80 years to the oldest-old, an age group in which longitudinal follow up data is limited.