Memory rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: Loss of cognitive and executive functions is a problem that affects people of all ages. That is why it is important to perform exercises for memory training and prevent early cognitive deterioration. The aim of this work was to compare the cognitive performance of the participants after an intervention by using two mnemonic techniques to exercise memory functions (paired-associate learning and method of loci).

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted with 21 healthy participants aged 18 to 55 years over a 2-month period. To assess the impact of this proposal, the NEUROPSI brief battery cognitive assessment test was applied before and after the intervention. In each session, a previous cognitive training was carried out using the paired-associate learning technique, to later perform a task based on the loci method, all from a smart device-based application. The accuracy response and reaction times were automatically collected in the app.

Results: After the intervention, a statistically significant improvement was obtained in the neuropsychological assessment (NEUROPSI neuropsychological battery) reflected by the Wilcoxon paired signed-rank test (P < .05).

Conclusion: The task based on the method of loci also reflected the well-known age-related effects common to memory assessment tasks. Episodic memory training using the method of loci can be successfully implemented using a smart device app. A stage-based methodological design allows to acquire mnemic skills gradually, obtaining a significant cognitive improvement in a short period of time.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cognition; Cognitive training; Episodic memory; Longitudinal studies; Mobile applications.

Fig. 1

Outline of the implemented methodology

Fig. 2

Application screenshots showing the two activities of the cognitive assessment

Fig. 3

Subject interacting with the app to perform the tasks

Fig. 4

AR and RT results in the paired-associated activity

Fig. 5

AR and RT results in the MoL activity

Fig. 6

AR estimated marginal means vs. levels in the paired-associate activity

Fig. 7

AR estimated marginal means vs. levels in the MoL activity