Betty GliskyDepartment of Psychology

University of Arizona

Improving Executive Functions Through Real-

World Interventions: The Role of Social Media

Background Laboratory training on cognitive tasks is

often effective but highly specific: Improves performance on trained tasks and

other highly similar tasks, but Does not transfer to other cognitive domains Generally little transfer to everyday life

Carrying out interventions in the real-world environment rather than in the laboratory might be more effective

Rationale The rationale for our study came from 2

sources: Intervention studies in which “social interaction”

provided cognitive benefits equivalent to or greater than cognitive training or aerobic exercise (e.g., Park et al., 2013; Mortimer et al., 2012)

Longitudinal studies suggesting that An active lifestyle may reduce age-related cognitive

decline (Fratiglioni et al., 2000), but also Declining cognitive function may lead to social

disengagement (e.g., Seeman et al., 2011; Small et al, 2012).

We decided to see if connecting socially-isolated older adults through social media would improve their cognitive function

MethodThree Groups of Older Adults Average age = 79; lived alone Group 1 (N = 13)

Group 2 (N = 13)

Group 3 Waitlist

(N = 14)

Pretest-posttest Design Tests of working memory/

executive function, memory, and processing speed

Given before and after the Facebook/Penzu intervention

Interventions 6 hours of training over a

week 7 weeks of daily postings in

Facebook or Penzu

Myrhe & Glisky, 2013

Penzu

Procedure

What we’re looking for is differential changes in performance on the cognitive tests from Time 1 (pretests) to Time 2 (post-tests) 8-weeks later as a function of the intervention

Pretests Training Home-Use Posttests 2 weeks 1 week 7 weeks 2 weeks Intervention

Executive Function TestsAdapted from Miyake et al, 2000

Shifting Number-Letter Task Global-Local Task

Updating/Working Memory Consonant Updating Keep Track Task

Inhibition Stroop Task Simon Task

Updating Tasks

Participants were shown a serial list of letters and were required to continually recall out loud only the last four letters presented. The number of letters presented during a trial varied from 5 to 11.

Consonant Updating

Updating Tasks

Participants are shown a list of 15 words from different categories and were asked to keep track of the last word from one or more specified categories. There were three trials of 1, 2, 3, and 4 categories.

Keep Track

Shifting Tasks

Letter-Number

Local-Global

Inhibition Tasks

Simon Task Stroop TaskName the Ink Color XXXXXGREEN XXXXXBLUE XXXXXRED

Results

Changes in Updating

Significant Group x Time interaction, F(2,37) = 5.95, p = .006The Facebook group showed a significant increase in performance compared to no significant change in the other two groups.

Global Shifting Costs

Significant Group x Time interaction, F(2,33) = 4.01, p = .028. Only the Waitlist group showed a significant change from Time 1 to Time 2

Processing SpeedTrails A Trails

B

Significant Time x Group interaction, F(2,38) = 3.40, p = .044, for Trails B; similar trend for Trails A performance, F(2,38) = 2.52, p = .094. No differential slowing for Trails B across groups

Summary We found a specific cognitive benefit

associated with using Facebook Only the Facebook group showed

improvements in updating/working memory There were no changes in the other measures

of executive function or in memory Both intervention groups showed

increases in processing speed

What accounts for the improvements in the Facebook group relative to the Penzu

group? Increased social interaction in Facebook

group relative to PenzuFacebook may be more cognitively

challenging than Penzu or may place greater demands on working memory or the updating component of executive function.

Social interactions in general may involve working memory and executive control and may present real-world opportunities for maintaining cognitive function

Specific Advantages of Online Social Networking

People who are truly socially isolated can stay connected, reducing the likelihood of cognitive decline

People who are experiencing cognitive decline can continue social interactions at their own pace

People who may be experiencing declines in vision or hearing can make adjustments so that they can remain socially connected

Specific Advantages of Online Social Networking

People can be selective in their social interactions, maintaining those that are positive and discarding those that are negativeSome evidence suggests that negative

social interactions increase stress and have negative effects on cognitive function (e.g., Tun etal., 2013)

Ultimately, older people can age in place for a longer period of time, remaining socially connected and cognitively challenged

Conclusions Social interaction is likely to be

beneficial and may be a very acceptable way to reduce cognitive decline, whether it occurs in face-to-face interactions or through online social media

Training programs that focus on real-world functional tasks that require executive control and working memory may be more effective than laboratory tasks, and they don’t require transfer to make a difference.

Training in the use of new technologies for solving everyday problems may be a meaningful way to keep people engaged and cognitively healthy.

Ivy Bean, 104 years old, has 4,000 friends on

Facebook

Thanks to all of the older adults from the Tucson community and from La Posada in Green Valley who contributed their time to this study.

Thanks!

Thanks also to the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Research Foundation for support.

Annual Conference on Successful Aging 2013