an article by Philip Perry for the Big Think blog
47 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. That number is expected to go up as the enormous baby boomer generation continues to age. Dementia is one of the most common causes of disability. We don’t know what causes it and beyond a few measures, there’s little one can do to prevent, slow, or stop it. That is, until now.
A collaboration of American researchers has identified certain brain training exercises that can help reduce the risk of dementia. This cognitive training program, known as speed of processing, was first developed to improve cognition and memory. The study shows that taking part in such exercises gave practitioners protective benefits which lasted for a full decade. This was known as the Advanced Cognitive Training in Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study. Its results were published in the journal, Alzheimer & Dementia Translational Research.
Although the impact was significant, the exercises themselves weren’t so taxing and didn’t take up a lot of time. Participants underwent 10 sessions for one hour each, over the course of six weeks. A smaller group then had up to eight sessions afterward. The more training sessions a participant had, the lower their dementia risk.
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