Long term narrative training can enhance cognitive performances in patients living with cognitive decline

Listening to narrative material stimulates and activates multiple areas in the cerebral cortex. It has been shown that such activations produce significant changes in the connectivity of the brain. In literature, findings have shown that in pathological aging (i.e., cognitive decline) patients who underwent a daily narrative training showed some improvements in many psychological and cognitive aspects. Here we aim to investigate the effect of a narrative cognitive training in patients living in a nursing home, by testing them with a neuropsychological battery (RBANS – Randolph, 1998) before and during the training, after 40 days and then after 30 days from the beginning. Results were compared to a control group of patients and showed a significant increase in performances of the experimental group in different cognitive performances. This suggest that these types of trainings could be implemented as an effective non-pharmacological treatment for cognitive decline in the elderly.