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Résumé: La mémoire de travail est une des fonctions cognitives les plus sensibles aux effets du vieillissement normal et pathologique. Chez la personne âgée avec un trouble cognitif léger, les troubles de la mémoire de travail sont fréquents et peuvent même précéder les troubles de la mémoire épisodique, en plus d'avoir une forte valeur pronostique d'évolution vers une démence de type d'Alzheimer. De par son implication dans de nombreuses tâches cognitives et cognitivo-motrices, la mémoire de travail est sollicitée dans la réalisation de diverses activités complexes de la vie quotidienne. L'altération de la mémoire de travail augmente, en conséquence, les risques de perte d'autonomie. Dans cette revue, nous présenterons différents programmes d'entraînement de la mémoire de travail. Nous aborderons également comment ces entraînements sont associés à des effets spécifiques, des transferts proches ou bien éloignés vers d'autres fonctions cognitives chez la personne âgée avec ou sans trouble cognitif léger et chez des patients atteints de démence. Nous démontrerons que ces bénéfices sont appuyés par des modifications neuronales suggérant une amélioration de l'efficience neuronale des processus entraînés ou interreliés. Nous aborderons aussi la question essentielle de la généralisation des acquis cognitifs aux activités de la vie quotidienne. Working memory is one of the cognitive functions that is the most sensitive to normal and pathological age-related effects. In older individuals with a mild cognitive impairment, deficits in working memory are frequent and can precede those of episodic memory, in addition to having a strong prognostic value of evolution toward a dementia of Alzheimer type. Because of its implication in numerous cognitive and cognitive-motor tasks, working memory is called upon in a wide range of daily life activities. Impairment in working memory therefore increases the risk of a loss of autonomy. In the current review, we present different working memory training programs. We show how these training programs are associated with specific effects and to near and far transfers towards other cognitive functions in older adults without cognitive impairment or with mild cognitive impairment, as well as in patients with dementia. We show that the benefits are confirmed by neuronal modifications, suggesting an improvement in the neuronal efficiency of the targeted or related trained processes. Finally, we consider the central question of the generalization of the cognitive gains of working memory training toward ecological situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Working memory is one of the cognitive functions that is the most sensitive to normal and pathological age-related effects. In older individuals with a mild cognitive impairment, deficits in working memory are frequent and can precede those of episodic memory, in addition to having a strong prognostic value of evolution toward a dementia of Alzheimer type. Because of its implication in numerous cognitive and cognitive-motor tasks, working memory is called upon in a wide range of daily life activities. Impairment in working memory therefore increases the risk of a loss of autonomy. In the current review, we present different working memory training programs. We show how these training programs are associated with specific effects and to near and far transfers towards other cognitive functions in older adults without cognitive impairment or with mild cognitive impairment, as well as in patients with dementia. We show that the benefits are confirmed by neuronal modifications, suggesting an improvement in the neuronal efficiency of the targeted or related trained processes. Finally, we consider the central question of the generalization of the cognitive gains of working memory training toward ecological situations.

Aging is usually associated with cognitive decline, specifically of the executive functions supported by the frontal lobe. However, in line with observations about the preservation or even the increase of well-being with age, it has been suggested that emotion regulation efficiency follows the same developmental trajectory, remaining stable over time, or even increasing. Emotion regulation refers to a family of strategies aiming at modifying the nature, the intensity, the duration or the expression of emotions. These various strategies rely on different neurocognitive processes in order to be efficient. As these processes are differently affected by aging, some of those strategies appear more affected than others. Thus, elderly people tend to use more frequently situation selection strategies, such as avoiding potentially negative situations, while their ability to regulate an emotion using cognitive reappraisal (i.e., changing the meaning of the situation), a strategy drawing heavily on executive resources, appears less efficient than in younger people.