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 The preliminary findings, presented at the Alzheimer's Association
International Conference in Toronto, are the first to show that any
kind of intervention could delay the development of dementia in
normal, healthy adults.
To date, cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists have largely
rejected evidence that computer-based cognitive-training software or
"brain games" have any effect on cognitive function.
The new findings would be quite promising if they hold up through
peer review and publication in a scientific journal, said Dr. John
King, an expert in social research at the National Institute of
Aging. The institute is part of the National Institutes of Health,
which funded the study.
King worked on the original clinical trial on which the new analysis
is based. The study, known as Active, examined the effects of
cognitive training programs on 2,785 healthy older adults.
Participants were divided into three groups. One got training for
memory improvement, one for reasoning and one with computerized
training in speed-of-processing.
In the speed training, which emphasized visual perception,
individuals were asked to identify objects on a screen quickly. The
program got harder with each correct answer.
Participants had 10 one-hour training sessions conducted in a
classroom setting over five weeks. Some received four additional
"booster" sessions one year after the original training, and four
more two years after that.
Scientists measured cognitive and functional changes immediately and
at one, two, three, five and 10 years after the training to see if
it affected how participants performed daily tasks.
Results of that study, published in 2014, found modest benefits in
the reasoning and speed-of-processing groups, but not memory.
The new analysis was by Dr. Jerri Edwards of the University of South
Florida, whose mentor, Dr. Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama
at Birmingham, sold her rights to the program to Posit Science.
Edwards also was a paid consultant for the company for part of 2008.
The program is now incorporated in Posit Science's BrainHQ.com brain
training program.
Edwards did a secondary analysis of the 10-year data, looking at the
time it took individuals to develop dementia.
She found that the group that did speed training showed 33 percent
less risk of dementia relative to the control group, while the
memory and the reasoning interventions offered no such benefit.
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People who completed 11 or more speed training sessions were at 48
percent less risk for developing dementia over the 10 years of the
study, Edwards said.
"At first blush, that's kind of a big deal," Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's
expert Dr. Ronald Petersen said. "This may even be clinically
relevant."
In 2014, a group of nearly 70 neuroscientists and cognitive
psychologists led by researchers at Stanford University's Center on
Longevity and the Berlin Max Planck Institute for Human Development
signed a letter saying there was “little evidence" of such results
from brain games. The letter was in response to heavy marketing by
companies touting the benefits of their programs based on scant
scientific data.
Edwards said she was frustrated with the scientific debate, which is
one reason she agreed to present her findings before they were
published. "I'm sick of our studies being ignored," she said.
King said the training offered in the program was slightly different
from the current Posit Science offering and that it was unclear
whether speed training would help people who are already at risk for
dementia.
"It's a promising result from an interesting data set," he said. "I
do think we will know more after the paper is reviewed."
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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