This computer exercise may help protect your brain from dementia, study finds

 Of course your competent? doctor already has EXACT PROTOCOLS ON THIS from years ago, right?
NO, PURE INCOMPETENCE!

cognitive speed training (19 posts to March 2014)

This computer exercise may help protect your brain from dementia, study finds

Brain training exercises can lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's and other types of dementia decades later, according to a new study in a journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

The research, published Monday in Alzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions, found that older adults who completed a type of computerized cognitive training had a 25% lower risk of dementia 20 years later.

The findings back up the idea that cognitive stimulation - particularly stimulation that's interactive, increasingly challenging, and requires you to divide your attention and make decisions quickly- is important to maintaining a healthy brain.

It's one of the first studies to show that a randomized controlled intervention can lower dementia risk, said co-author George Rebok, a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Previous studies have been observational or focused on cognitive decline, not dementia risk, he said.

"It's a really exciting result because it suggests that we really can develop cognitive training interventions that can affect people's risk for getting dementia, which is a major worry in the population," Rebok said. "That's a really hopeful sign."

The researchers divided participants, who were aged 65 and older and healthyat the start of the study, into four groups. One group did speed training exercises, one did memory exercises, one did reasoning exercises, and one was the control group.

Related video: Evidence-based lifestyle factors that reduce cognitive decline risk dramatically (Talking With Docs)

Booster sessions made the difference

The group that did speed training and subsequently completed additional speed training sessions called "boosters" had a 25% lower risk of developing dementia 20 years later.

The groups that did the memory and reasoning training, and the group that did the speed training but did not do the subsequent booster sessions, saw no difference in dementia risk.

The study included about 2,800 adults from six metropolitan regions in the United States. They were part of a large randomized controlled trial known as the ACTIVE study.

The participants initially did 10 training sessions - two sessions per week, over five weeks - with each session lasting 60 to 75 minutes. The four booster sessions were done one and three years after the initial training.

The speed training consisted of a computer screen showing an image that participants had to quickly identify. They then had to quickly identify other images in their peripheral vision that appeared at different times and different distances from the original target image. The program started out slow and easier, and became faster and more difficult as participants got better - known as adaptive training.

It may be this adaptive quality that led to the speed training having more benefits for dementia risk compared to the memory and reasoning training, Rebok said. Previous ACTIVE research has shown that speed training can apply to everyday tasks, including driving, where it's important to divide your attention and make decisions quickly, he said.

From lab experiment to brain-training app

The version of the speed training exercise that study participants did in the early 2000s no longer exists. But it was later updated and now exists as a computer and mobile app by San Francisco neuroscience company Posit Science. Posit Science acquired the speed training exercise from one of the ACTIVE study's authors, Karlene Ball, a psychologist and professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham who co-designed the exercise.

Posit Science's brain training program, called BrainHQ, includes many cognitive exercises including one very similar to the speed training exercise used in the study, called Double Decision.

Speed training activates big parts of the brain at the same time, which boosts brain plasticity, the idea that you can rewire your brain to become more resilient,said Posit Science CEO and neuroscientist Henry Mahncke. During that process, the brain builds more connections between brain cells and more insulation around those connections, and releases proteins that drive brain growth, he said.

"That's what makes the brain healthier and more able to resist the onset of dementia," said Mahncke, the company's first employee who studied with Posit Science co-founder Michael Merzenich, a longtime UCSF neuroscientist who pioneered the concept of brain plasticity.

Experts not involved in the study say it's important to incorporate cognitive stimulation as part of an overall healthy lifestyle that also includes a nutritious diet, exercise, sleep and social connections - all factors that can lower dementia risk. That may not mean focusing on one specific type of cognitive exercise, but rather finding cognitive stimulation in activities you enjoy that are interactive and challenging, like a book club or dance group.

"What we've been telling patients and healthy community members who want to reduce their risk is that cognitive stimulation is so important to maintaining a healthy brain," said Dr. Sharon Sha, a clinical professor of neurology and chief of the Memory Disorders Division at Stanford. "What I usually recommend are things that are interactive that give you feedback and enjoyment so there's sustainability to continue."