SAN FRANCISCO — A large, long-term study of different types of brain training found only the training in the brain health app BrainHQ, made by Posit Science, was effective without regard to a study participant’s demographic or health characteristics.
The report, published in the journal of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, examined data from 2,788 participants in the NIH-funded, 20-year, Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) Study. Participants were randomized into a control or one of three intervention arms: a 10-hour course in techniques to improve memory; a 10-hour course in techniques to improve reasoning; or 10 hours of training on a computerized brain exercise (emphasizing speed and accuracy of processing). Since 2001, scores of papers have been published on various ACTIVE study findings.
Prior ACTIVE Study reports have shown that the computerized brain training: improved standard measures of cognition; lowered the risk of serious decline in self-rated health; lowered predicted Medicare costs; lessened the onset and the deepening of depressive symptoms; improved confidence and control; improved abilities at living independently; reduced fall risk by 31% among those at high risk of falls; cut the incidence of at-fault car crashes by 48%; and reduced the incidence of dementia by 29-48%.
The latest paper focuses on vision and hearing loss and summarized prior research on how demographic (age, gender, education) and health characteristics (cognitive and physical health status) affected participants’ training results. The researchers found different impacts in each intervention group. The memory training had higher effect among participants with higher education, better self-rated health, and hearing difficulty. The reasoning training had higher effect in people with higher baseline cognition without vision difficulties. In contrast, the computerized speed training benefited older adults regardless of age, gender, education, or baseline cognitive or physical health status, and was maintained at 5 and 10 years after training regardless of vision or hearing impairment.
“The study finds the BrainHQ exercise seems to work for pretty much everyone,” noted Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science which makes BrainHQ. “While we started on this journey with a focus on people in their 80s, the initial studies showed it was effective for seniors of any age. Using age-normed cognitive measures, we saw about 10 years of improvement — so people in their 80s performed more like people in their 70s, and people in their 70s more like people in their 60s, and so on.”
BrainHQ then expanded its focus, in scores of studies, to various conditions that negatively impact cognition, such as brain injuries, neurodegenerative diseases, and mental illnesses.
“It wasn’t until we heard from one of the world’s greatest athletes that BrainHQ was improving his on-field performance, that we began to recognize that BrainHQ can help pretty much anyone have a faster, more accurate, and healthier brain,” Dr. Mahncke added. “Even someone already performing at a super-human level.”
While the company’s mission started with helping people in their 80s close to the cognitive edge, it has expanded to people looking for an edge, including elite athletes and special forces.
BrainHQ has shown benefits in hundreds of studies. Such benefits include gains in cognition (attention, speed, memory, decision-making), in quality of life (depressive symptoms, confidence and control, health-related quality of life) and in real-world activities (health outcomes, balance, driving, workplace activities). BrainHQ is offered, without charge, by leading national and 5-star Medicare Advantage plans and by leading medical centers, clinics, and communities. Consumers can try a BrainHQ exercise for free daily at https://www.brainhq.com.