Effect of Computerized Cognitive Rehabilitation on Improvement of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Working Memory Capacity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of computerized cognitive rehabilitation therapies (CCRT) on improvement of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and working memory capacity (WM) in elderly women. This study was a quasi experimental design with a pretest-posttest design with a control group with a one month follow-up. Subjects included 16 elderly women 65 years and older with mild cognitive impairment and low capacity of working memory at the Mehrpouyan elderly home in Behbahan city in 2018-2019. They were selected with an available sampling method and randomly placed in the experimental and control groups. Each group included 8 persons. To evaluate the Main Mental Status Examination (MMSE) (Fulestine et, al., 1975) and the Working Memory Capacity Test (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980). The experimental group was trained for 8 session with a memory rehabilitation software and the control group did not received any training. Data was analyzed with mixed analysis of variance. The scores from the MMSE and the Working Memory Capacity of the experimental group increased dramatically. As a result, computerized cognitive rehabilitation had a significant effect on the improvement of cognitive impairment and the capacity of working memory in elderly women.