Lifespan differences in strategy training benefits: An investigation of the theta and alpha frequency bands.

摘要

Extensive research on the long-lasting and beneficial effects of strategy training has demonstrated its importance in real-world application. While little work has been done to investigate the physiological changes following strategy training, the results are promising. To further this work, younger and older adults were given strategy training on a difficult planning task (The Tower of London) while EEG was recorded. Both younger and older adults showed better performance following strategy training on directly trained problems as well as demonstrating transfer effects to other problems of a similar structure. Only younger adults were found to improve on problems where the strategy could not be applied, demonstrating the older adults' reliance on strategy training for cognitive improvement. Frontal theta activity was found to increase following training, replicating previous research that showed an increase in task-relevant regions of the brain following strategy training. Older adults were found to have larger increases than younger adults in frontal theta; a surprising but encouraging developmental difference. The alpha frequency band was found to be functionally relevant to the task in both the younger and older adults, showing similar increases in the frontal regions in the post-training condition. The strategy training was found to both increase behavioral performance and differentially affect the theta and lower alpha frequency bands. Theoretical implications of the theta and alpha frequency bands are discussed in terms of their functional use during problem solving and how this changes across the lifespan.