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Online brain-training games can improve Memory In older people, a new study shows.
Researchers at McGill University led the clinical trial on 92 healthy adults aged 65 and older. Participants were randomly assigned to spend 30 minutes a day online activity For 10 weeks.
half the group did online brain exercise on a game-like app called BrainHQ, while the other half of the control group played games designed for entertainment. BrainHQ provides movement-based exercises that become progressively more challenging and focused, which have been shown to be effective in hundreds of studies.
The study, called INHANCE (Improving Neurological Health in Aging through Neuroplasticity-Based Computerized Exercise), found that adults who used BrainHQ daily for 10 weeks had increases in cholinergic function, a chemical system in the brain that influences attention, memory, and decision making, and which normally decreases with age.
“The training restored cholinergic health to levels typically seen in someone younger than 10 years of age,” said senior author Dr. Etienne de Villers-Sidani, an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and a neurologist at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital).
“This is the first time that any intervention, drug or non-drug, has been shown to do this in humans,” he said.
The researchers used a special PET scan and tracers to track changes in the brain, allowing them to see how active the cholinergic system was before and after training.
“We used a rare technique,” Dr. DeVillers-Sidani said. “Neuro is one of the few centers around the world that can produce the tracer and run the scans.”
He added: “Many people believe that crossword puzzles or reading are enough to keep the brain sharp. But not all activities actually promote neuroplasticity.”
Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common cause dementiaThis includes a decline in cholinergic health.
According to the NHS, Alzheimer’s is most common in people over the age of 65, and the risk of the disease and other types of dementia increases with age, affecting 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 and 1 in every 6 people over the age of 80.
But with about 1 in every 13 people Alzheimer’s This disease occurs under the age of 65 years. This is called early or young-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Study results show that these exercises reduce the risk of dementia and boost cognition. The researchers say this training could provide a low-risk alternative to medication or could be used alongside it, and are planning a follow-up study to test the program in people with early-stage dementia.
The study has been published in JMIR Serious Games And the research was supported by the National Institutes on Aging of the National Institutes of Health.