New Study Means the Age of Dementia Prevention Begins Now

"The researchers found that a modest amount of the right kind of brain training can substantially reduce the risk of such diagnoses. These results should usher in a new age, in which we recognize dementia as a preventable chronic condition that you can be proactive about. Consider where we were before this finding: A soaring number of people are affected by dementia."

"The ACTIVE study enrolled more than 2,800 older adults (average age 74 at study onset) back at the turn of the Millennium. Researchers randomized them into four groups: a control group, a memory training group (which learned mnemonic and other strategies for improving memory), a reasoning training group (which learned problem-solving strategies), and a speed training group (which engaged with computerized, progressively-challenging, individually-adaptive, speed-of-processing exercises)."

A 20-year NIH-funded randomized controlled trial (ACTIVE) followed more than 2,800 older adults (average age 74) randomized into control, memory, reasoning, and computerized speed-of-processing training groups. Training involved 60–75 minute class sessions twice weekly for five weeks, with subsets receiving additional booster sessions. Participants in the speed-training group experienced a 25% lower incidence of dementia diagnoses over twenty years. Effective protection occurred with less than 24 total hours of training spread over three years. The findings indicate a modest, targeted cognitive training intervention can substantially reduce risk of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Read at Psychology Today