Home cognitive training showed improvements, but the size of benefit is unclear
A randomized trial examined cognitive performance and brain activity in healthy older adults using an adaptive digital training program at home.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The authors report improvements in overall cognition, visuospatial ability, memory and attention after DCES training. However, the abstract does not quantify those gains or clearly state whether they were tested against the control group. It therefore leaves uncertainty about how much the program improved performance beyond the comparison condition.
This abstract-only account lacks effect sizes, confidence intervals and details of the control activity. It also does not report whether changes lasted beyond the intervention or affected everyday functioning.
What the trial measured
Researchers assessed thinking skills and brain function before and after the program. The question was whether a home training system could improve cognitive performance in healthy older adults, alongside changes in brain activity.
Brain changes are a separate result
The study also reported lower fALFF values, a brain activity measure, in the supramarginal gyri. Baseline activity in the left region was linked to immediate memory gains; this association does not establish how training might work.
The original publication
Self-administered home digital cognitive enhancement system (DCES) enhances cognitive function in Chinese healthy elderly and its impact on cerebral cortex function: A randomized controlled trial study.
Wang X, Zhao S, Li Y et al.
Asian J Psychiatr · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41338127
- Record checked
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