Dementia risk could be halved with brain training

TRAINING the brain by playing online games can almost halve the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research.

The tasks challenge reasoning and memory skills and could have significant benefits for older people in their day-to-day lives, say scientists.

A study of 2,785 elderly Americans found the computer brain training technique cut the number of dementia cases by a third. But this figure rose to 48 per cent for those who managed the most sessions.

The research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, in Toronto, is the most conclusive to date that the technique works.

The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study tested several types of brain training.

Participants, whose average age was 73, either received classroom based memory and reasoning strategies or the computer-based training which challenged them on speed of processing. It was only the latter that was successful.

They had 10 hour long training sessions conducted over five weeks, some receiving ‘booster’ sessions over the next three years.

Participants who did these – those who participated in 11 or more sessions of the computerised training – showed a 48 per cent reduction in new cases of cognitive decline or dementia.

Professor Jerri Edwards, of the University of South Florida, said: “We believe this is the first time a cognitive training intervention has been shown to protect against cognitive impairment or dementia in a large, randomised, controlled trial.”