Dementia risk reduced in 10 1-hour sessions — benefits seen 10 years later.
A type of mental exercise has been linked for the first time to a reduced risk of dementia.
The training is called ‘speed processing’ and involves identifying objects and their location on a screen.
As people improve at this cognitive task, the software speeds up.
The speed training was effective where more traditional memory and reasoning training had little effect on dementia.
Professor Frederick W. Unverzagt, who led the study, said it was comparatively easy training:
“We would consider this a relatively small dose of training, a low intensity intervention.
The persistence — the durability of the effect was impressive.”
The initial training was carried out in 10 one-hour sessions.
Most people subsequently did an extra four booster sessions.
Compared with a control group, and other comparisons, the speed processing training reduced dementia risk by 29%.
People were followed up one, two, three, five and 10 years later.
Impressively, the effects of the training were still there after 10 years.
This is some of the first strong evidence that mental training can help fight dementia.
The study was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (Edwards et al., 2017).
