The purpose of this article is to discuss to what extent foreign language learning may enhance cognitive functions among healthy older population. The methods used in this study included cognitive assessments using standardized tests, intervention through English language teaching and learning, and statistical analysis. Out of 60 older Czech citizens, 42 cognitively unimpaired participants were selected for the experiment. These participants were randomly divided into an experimental group (20 subjects) studying English for 12 weeks (three 45-min lessons per week) and a control group (22 subjects) whose members did not have any language training. The results of the research show that there has been a slight enhancement of cognitive skills in the experimental group. Nevertheless, on the whole, the scores of the experimental and control groups did not considerably differ. Despite this fact, the results indicate that cognitive functions among healthy older population can be maintained through regular foreign language training.

• Klíčová slova
• Cognitive decline, Cognitive functions, Effect, English language learning, Healthy older individuals, Limitations,
• MeSH
• kognice fyziologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mnohojazyčnost * MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• stárnutí fyziologie   MeSH
• učení fyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Small aggregates (oligomers) of the toxic proteins amyloid-β (Aβ) and phospho-tau (p-tau) are essential contributors to Alzheimer's disease (AD). In mouse models for AD or human AD brain extracts, Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment (TEMT) disaggregates both Aβ and p-tau oligomers, and induces brain mitochondrial enhancement. These apparent "disease-modifying" actions of TEMT both prevent and reverse memory impairment in AD transgenic mice. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and initial clinical efficacy of TEMT against AD, a comprehensive open-label clinical trial was performed. METHODS: Eight mild/moderate AD patients were treated with TEMT in-home by their caregivers for 2 months utilizing a unique head device. TEMT was given for two 1-hour periods each day, with subjects primarily evaluated at baseline, end-of-treatment, and 2 weeks following treatment completion. RESULTS: No deleterious behavioral effects, discomfort, or physiologic changes resulted from 2 months of TEMT, as well as no evidence of tumor or microhemorrhage induction. TEMT induced clinically important and statistically significant improvements in ADAS-cog, as well as in the Rey AVLT. TEMT also produced increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of soluble Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42, cognition-related changes in CSF oligomeric Aβ, a decreased CSF p-tau/Aβ1-42 ratio, and reduced levels of oligomeric Aβ in plasma. Pre- versus post-treatment FDG-PET brain scans revealed stable cerebral glucose utilization, with several subjects exhibiting enhanced glucose utilization. Evaluation of diffusion tensor imaging (fractional anisotropy) scans in individual subjects provided support for TEMT-induced increases in functional connectivity within the cognitively-important cingulate cortex/cingulum. CONCLUSION: TEMT administration to AD subjects appears to be safe, while providing cognitive enhancement, changes to CSF/blood AD markers, and evidence of stable/enhanced brain connectivity.

• Klíčová slova
• Amyloid-β, FDG-PET, brain electromagnetic waves, cognitive enhancement, functional MRI,
• MeSH
• Alzheimerova nemoc diagnostické zobrazování   metabolismus   psychologie   terapie   MeSH
• amyloidní beta-protein krev   mozkomíšní mok   MeSH
• kognice MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
• neuropsychologické testy MeSH
• neurozobrazování MeSH
• proteiny tau krev   mozkomíšní mok   MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• transkraniální magnetická stimulace škodlivé účinky   metody   MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• klinické zkoušky MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• amyloidní beta-protein MeSH
• proteiny tau MeSH

OBJECTIVE: Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) and its preclinical stage, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), are critical issues confronting the aging society. Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques have the potential to be effective tools for enhancing cognitive functioning. The main objective of our meta-analysis was to quantify and update the status of the efficacy of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) when applied in AD and MCI. METHODS: The systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science according to PRISMA statement. RESULTS: Pooled effect sizes (Hedges' g) from 32 studies were analyzed using random effect models. We found both, rTMS and tDCS to have significant immediate cognition-enhancing effect in AD with rTMS inducing also beneficial long-term effects. We found no evidence for synergistic effect of cognitive training with NIBS. CONCLUSIONS: In AD a clinical recommendation can be made for NEURO-ADTM system and for high-frequency rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as probably effective protocols (B-level of evidence) and for anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC as a possibly effective. SIGNIFICANCE: According to scientific literature, NIBS may be an effective method for improving cognition in AD and possibly in MCI.

• Klíčová slova
• Alzheimer’s disease, Brain stimulation, Dementia, MCI, Mild cognitive impairment, Noninvasive, rTMS, tDCS,
• MeSH
• Alzheimerova nemoc * terapie   psychologie   MeSH
• kognice MeSH
• kognitivní dysfunkce * terapie   psychologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mozek fyziologie   MeSH
• přímá transkraniální stimulace mozku * metody   MeSH
• transkraniální magnetická stimulace metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• systematický přehled MeSH

We evaluated the therapeutic effects of non-pharmacological interventions (cognitive training, physical activity, and non-invasive brain stimulation) on cognitive symptoms in Parkinson's disease. A comprehensive literature search for non-pharmacological intervention randomized controlled trials was performed and effect sizes were calculated for each suitable study intervention approach and cognitive domain. Despite the heterogeneity of the study results, we report level B evidence for the probable efficacy of cognitive training in improving or maintaining attention/working memory and memory domains. Level C (possible efficacy) evidence was found for specific physical training types with respect to enhancing executive functions. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques and combinatorial approaches show preliminary but promising results. Prediction markers evaluating distinct treatment responses should be identified that would help to choose the best candidates for specific treatment strategies and cognitive symptoms. Future directions and recommendations are discussed.

• Klíčová slova
• Brain stimulation, Cognitive training, Mild cognitive impairment, Non-pharmacological interventions, Parkinson’s disease, Physical therapy,
• MeSH
• kognitivní dysfunkce etiologie   rehabilitace   MeSH
• kognitivní remediace * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc komplikace   rehabilitace   MeSH
• terapie cvičením * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Currently, there is an increasing number of older population groups, especially in developed countries. This demographic trend, however, may cause serious problems, such as an increase in aging diseases, one of which is dementia whose main symptom consists in the decline of cognitive functioning. Although there has been ongoing pharmacological research on this neurological disorder, it has not brought satisfying results as far as its treatment is concerned. Therefore, governments all over the world are trying to develop alternative, non-pharmacological strategies/activities, which could help to prevent this cognitive decline while this aging population is still healthy in order to reduce future economic and social burden. One of the non-pharmacological approaches, which may enhance cognitive abilities and protect against the decline in healthy older population, seems to be the learning of a foreign language. The purpose of this mini-review article is to discuss recent findings about the effect of foreign language learning on the enhancement of cognitive functions among healthy older individuals. The findings, divided into three research areas, show that the learning of a foreign language may generate a lot of benefits for older individuals, such as enhancement of cognitive functioning, their self-esteem, increased opportunities of socializing, or reduction of costs. However, as Ware et al. (2017) indicate, any intervention program on foreign language learning should be well thought of and tailored to the needs of older people in order to be effective and avoid accompanying factors, such as older people's anxiety or low self-confidence. Nevertheless, more empirical studies should be done in this area.

• Klíčová slova
• a lack of evidence, benefits, cognitive functioning, efficacy, foreign language learning, healthy older adults,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Enhancing cognitive functions through noninvasive brain stimulation is of enormous public interest, particularly for the aging population in whom processes such as working memory are known to decline. In a randomized double-blind crossover study, we investigated the acute behavioral and neural aftereffects of bifrontal and frontoparietal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with visual working memory (VWM) training on 25 highly educated older adults. Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis was performed prior to and after each stimulation session with a focus on the frontoparietal control network (FPCN). The bifrontal montage with anode over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex enhanced VWM accuracy as compared to the sham stimulation. With the rs-FC within the FPCN, we observed significant stimulation × time interaction using bifrontal tDCS. We found no cognitive aftereffects of the frontoparietal tDCS compared to sham stimulation. Our study shows that a single bifrontal tDCS combined with cognitive training may enhance VWM performance and rs-FC within the relevant brain network even in highly educated older adults.

• MeSH
• čelní lalok MeSH
• dvojitá slepá metoda MeSH
• klinické křížové studie MeSH
• kognice * MeSH
• kognitivně behaviorální terapie metody   MeSH
• krátkodobá paměť MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
• neuropsychologické testy MeSH
• prefrontální mozková kůra MeSH
• přímá transkraniální stimulace mozku metody   MeSH
• psychomotorický výkon MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• stupeň vzdělání MeSH
• temenní lalok MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie MeSH

The purpose of supervision is to ensure that clients' needs are met and to monitor the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and the therapeutic relationship. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) supervision is the systematic cooperation of the supervisee with the supervisor, which aims at increasing the therapists' competencies when working with specific clients. The advantage of supervision is the possibility to shape and develop the therapist's practical skills through specific techniques. This paper aims to review currently available CBT supervision strategies that boost the development of therapists' skills and provide possible examples. Various techniques are discussed, including behavioural, cognitive, imagery and psychodrama methods that facilitate supervisors in enhancing therapists' skills. In addition, complementary approaches are discussed, such as role-playing, modelling, chaining, or imitation to present at a particular moment of the therapy, increase the insight into the client's perspective or the treatment itself, and search for an alternative approach to improve the therapeutic outcomes for the client. Overall, the article describes the supervisor's need to have a flexible variety of skills and know which learning methods might be most effective for boosting the supervisee's skill level and needs with a particular client.

• MeSH
• behaviorální terapie * výchova   MeSH
• klinické kompetence * MeSH
• kognitivně behaviorální terapie * metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Current demographic trends indicate that the population is aging. The aging process is inevitably connected with cognitive decline, which manifests itself in worsening working memory, processing speed, and attention. Therefore, apart from pharmacological therapies, non-pharmacological approaches which can influence cognitive performance (such as physical activities or healthy diet), are being investigated. The purpose of this study is to explore the types of nutritional interventions and their benefits in the prevention and delay of cognitive delay in healthy older individuals. The methods used in this study include a literature review of the available studies on the research topic found in Web of Science, Scopus, and MEDLINE. The findings show that nutritional intervention has a positive impact on cognitive function in healthy older people. However, it seems that the interactions between more than one nutrient are most effective. The results reveal that specifically the Mediterranean diet appears to be effective in this respect. Moreover, the findings also indicate that multi-domain interventions including diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring have a far more significant effect on the enhancement of cognitive functions among healthy older individuals.

• Klíčová slova
• cognitive decline, healthy older individuals, intervention, nutrition, prevention, randomized clinical trials,
• MeSH
• chování snižující riziko MeSH
• cvičení MeSH
• geriatrické hodnocení MeSH
• kognice * MeSH
• kognitivní dysfunkce diagnóza   patofyziologie   prevence a kontrola   psychologie   MeSH
• kognitivní stárnutí psychologie   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nutriční stav * MeSH
• ochranné faktory MeSH
• rizikové faktory MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• strava středomořská MeSH
• věkové faktory MeSH
• zdravá strava * MeSH
• zdravé stárnutí psychologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), or HIP (Human Interactive Proof), has long been utilized to avoid bots manipulating web services. Over the years, various CAPTCHAs have been presented, primarily to enhance security and usability against new bots and cybercriminals carrying out destructive actions. Nevertheless, automated attacks supported by ML (Machine Learning), CNN (Convolutional Neural Network), and DNN (Deep Neural Network) have successfully broken all common conventional schemes, including text- and image-based CAPTCHAs. CNN/DNN have recently been shown to be extremely vulnerable to adversarial examples, which can consistently deceive neural networks by introducing noise that humans are incapable of detecting. In this study, the authors improve the security for CAPTCHA design by combining text-based, image-based, and cognitive CAPTCHA characteristics and applying adversarial examples and neural style transfer. Comprehend usability and security assessments are performed to evaluate the efficacy of the improvement in CAPTCHA. The results show that the proposed CAPTCHA outperforms standard CAPTCHAs in terms of security while remaining usable. Our work makes two major contributions: first, we show that the combination of deep learning and cognition can significantly improve the security of image-based and text-based CAPTCHAs; and second, we suggest a promising direction for designing CAPTCHAs with the concept of the proposed CAPTCHA.

• Klíčová slova
• CAPTCHA, cognitive, deep learning, security,
• MeSH
• deep learning * MeSH
• kognice MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• neuronové sítě MeSH
• software MeSH
• strojové učení MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

AIMS: To examine the effects of virtual reality-based cognitive interventions on cognitive function and activities of daily living among stroke patients, and to identify the optimal design for such intervention. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINANL, JBI-EBP and Web of Science from inception to October 2023. METHODS: Methodological quality was assessed by Risk of Bias Tool. Meta-analyses were assessed by Review Manager 5.4. Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore the influence of study design. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was adopted to assess the certainty of evidence. RESULTS: Twenty-five randomized controlled trials (1178 participants) were included. Virtual reality-based cognitive interventions demonstrated moderate-to-large effects in improving global cognitive function (SMD = 0.43; 95% CI [0.01, 0.85]), executive function (SMD = 0.84; 95% CI [0.25, 1.43]) and memory (SMD = 0.65; 95% CI [0.15, 1.16]) compared to control treatments. No significant effects were found on language, visuospatial ability and activities of daily living. Subgroup analyses indicated one-on-one coaching, individualized design and dynamic difficulty adjustment, and interventions lasting ≥ 6 weeks had particularly enhanced effects, especially for executive function. CONCLUSIONS: Virtual reality-based cognitive interventions improve global cognitive function, executive function and memory among stroke patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PATIENT CARE: This review underscores the broad cognitive advantages offered by virtual technology, suggesting its potential integration into standard stroke rehabilitation protocols for enhanced cognitive recovery. IMPACT: The study identifies key factors in virtual technology interventions that effectively improve cognitive function among stroke patients, offering healthcare providers a framework for leveraging such technology to optimize cognitive outcomes in stroke rehabilitation. REPORTING METHOD: PRISMA 2020 statement. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022342668.

• Klíčová slova
• cognitive function, cognitive intervention, meta-analysis, stroke, systematic review, virtual reality,
• MeSH
• cévní mozková příhoda psychologie   komplikace   MeSH
• činnosti denního života * MeSH
• kognice * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• rehabilitace po cévní mozkové příhodě * metody   MeSH
• virtuální realita * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• systematický přehled MeSH