In a first, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have managed to reduce people’s risk for dementia with the help of a computerized brain training program.
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Among the highlights from the conference is a new “milestone” study showing for the first time that cognitive training intervention may prevent dementia.
Two studies released at an worldwide Alzheimer’s meeting Tuesday suggest doctors may eventually be able to screen people for this form of dementia by testing the ability to identify familiar odors, like smoke, coffee and raspberry.
“While more research is needed, because the UPSIT is much less expensive and easier to administer than PET imaging or lumbar puncture, odor identification testing may prove to be a useful tool in helping physicians counsel patients who are concerned about their risk of memory loss”, Dr. William Kreisl, assistant neurology professor and a physician at Columbia University Medical Center, said in the release.
The study took data from a questionairre of 185 carers and Piguet said that while it wasn’t clear exactly why the disease unlocked these skills, it could have something to do with the the often-used areas of the brain shutting down, allowing for other parts to shine.
Another study presented in Toronto examined the effect of three different kinds of “brain training” on older adults.
The researchers emphasize these results are by no means a validation for brain training as a whole, but for just one specific task – boosting mental processing.
It’s not uncommon for people with dementia to experience neuropsychiatric symptoms, too – problems such as depression or “sundowning”, agitation that occurs at the end of the day – as the degeneration spreads into brain regions responsible for more than memory.
A subscription to Brain HQ costs between $8 – 14 per month.
The study was called ACTIVE – Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Posit Science says the company intends to file a medical-device application to the Food and Drug Administration based on the recent clinical trial findings. As players get correct answers, the presentation time speeds up, distractors are introduced and the targets become more hard to differentiate.
“Time spent on effective brain training has potential long-lasting benefits for many aspects of older adults’ lives”, said one researcher.
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Speed training is created to improve the speed and accuracy of processing visual information and expand the useful field of view, or UFOV-the visual area over which a person can make quick decisions and pay attention without moving the eye or head. It said that 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men who live over the age of 55 might develop dementia in the future. Although your likelihood of developing a form of dementia increases as you age, there is an increasing number of people being diagnosed under the age of 65. “In that way this is really valuable”, she said. Worldwide, more than 37 million people are living with HIV.
