And no, it’s not Sudoku
Regular exercise, a Mediterranean diet, and an hour of video games? According to new research, that could be the perfect prescription for dementia prevention.
A new study from Johns Hopkins found that one type of brain-training computer game may help reduce the risk of dementia by up to 25 percent. What’s more, that protective effect appeared to last for decades after participants completed just a few months of exercises.
“This specific kind of training had enormous benefits over 20 years in terms of lowering the risk of dementia,” says Marilyn Albert, Ph.D., the author of the study and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins.
We’re diving into this promising research and taking a look at how this game was developed — and giving you a chance to test it out for yourself.
The ACTIVE study
The study, published last month, was a follow-up to the clinical trial called the Advanced Cognitive Training for the Vital Elderly (ACTIVE). Nearly 3,000 people 65 and older enrolled in the trial, in which they were split up into groups and trained on one of three types of brain games. Participants received up to 10 sessions including 60 to 75 minutes of cognitive training over five to six weeks. About half of those people got additional training over a three-year period.
One group played a game made for improving memory, another focused on problem-solving tasks, and a third played a speed-based game. Surprisingly, only the speed group seemed to benefit.
Researchers used Medicare data to track which of the participants had developed dementia over the 20-year follow-up period. Their findings? People who’d done the speed training, with the booster sessions, had a 25 percent reduction in risk compared to the control group.
How does the speed training work?
The game tests your ability to recognize two images that flash across the screen. First, a vehicle appears briefly, followed by a traffic sign. The user is then asked to recall whether a car or tractor appeared, and where approximately on the screen the sign was located. As you answer correctly, the images disappear at faster and faster intervals until the exercise is calibrated at a level that’s challenging for the participant.
The exercise is called Double Decision, and it’s available on BrainHQ, a company that specializes in neuroscience-backed programs for cognitive development. Henry Mahncke, PhD, a neuroscientist and CEO of Posit Science, which owns BrainHQ, tells us that the speed training was developed by two researchers as a way to prompt neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to rewire itself.
“What this does is rewire the brain to make it faster and more accurate at processing visual information,” Dr. Henry Mahncke says. “That allows the brain to adapt in all kinds of ways that are really important for brain health and resisting dementia.”
But why is it that the speed exercise proved beneficial where the other two types of training didn’t? Dr. Albert believes it could have to do with the concept of implicit learning, which is learning that’s done unconsciously. Consider the first time you rode a bike, for example. Your dad probably just pushed you with little instruction, and (after a few falls) you were able to wobble your way forward.
Double Decision is performed through implicit learning, while in the study’s other two games, participants were given specific instructions to learn — meaning they involved explicit learning, Dr. Albert says. Those games were more like attending a class and later trying to remember information about the Civil War, Dr. Mahncke explains.
“These two kinds of learning use different parts of the brain,” Dr. Albert tells us. “And we’re assuming what’s happening in the speed training is that you’re increasing the connectivity in the brain.”
Experts also believe that these types of changes are more durable. To return to the bicycle example: It may have taken you a couple of tries before you could ride without training wheels, but once you’ve got it down, you can easily do it again 20 years later.
“This kind of learning is powerful, driving plasticity that’s incredibly long-lasting,” Dr. Mahncke says.