Computer
exercises improve memory and attention
Study shows brain exercises improve memory
and processing speed
Study results to be published in the April
2009 issue of the Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society show that
computerized brain exercises can improve
memory and lead to faster thinking.
Prior studies have shown that older adults
perform better on cognitive tests after
repeatedly practicing those tests, but this
large-scale study is the first to link a
commercially available software program to
improvement on unaffiliated standard
measures of memory and to better performance
on everyday tasks.
The Improvement in Memory with
Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training
(IMPACT) study was funded by the Posit
Science Corporation, which owns the rights
to the Brain Fitness Program, tested in the
study.
Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD, of the USC Davis
School of Gerontology and Glenn Smith, PhD,
of the Mayo Clinic were principal
investigators on the study, published with
colleagues from the University of
California, San Francisco, Stanford, and
California State University, Los Angeles.
Of the 487 healthy adults over the age of 65
who participated in a randomized controlled
trial, half used the Brain Fitness Program
for 40 hours over the course of eight weeks.
The Brain Fitness Program consists of six
audio exercises done on a computer, and is
intended to "retrain the brain to
discriminate fine distinctions in sound, and
do it in a way that keeps the user engaged,"
Zelinski explained.
The other half of participants spent an
equal amount of time learning from
educational DVDs followed by quizzes.
Those who trained on the Brain Fitness
Program were twice as fast in processing
information with an average improvement in
response time of 131 percent.
The active control group did not show
statistically significant gains, the
researchers found.
According to the researchers, participants
who used the Brain Fitness Program also
scored as well as those ten years younger,
on average, on memory and attention tests
for which they did not train.
Many participants also reported significant
improvements in everyday cognitive
activities such as remembering names or
understanding conversations in noisy
restaurants.
"The changes we saw in the experimental
group were remarkable — and significantly
larger than the gains in the control group,"
Zelinski said.
"From a researcher's point of view, this was
very impressive because people got better at
the tasks trained, [and] those improvements
generalized to standardized measures of
memory and people noticed improvements in
their lives.
"What
this means is that cognitive decline is no
longer an inevitable part of aging. Doing
properly designed cognitive activities can
enhance our abilities as we age."
"This study has profound personal and public
implications for aging baby boomers and
their parents," said Joe Coughlin, PhD,
Director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts
Institute Technology.
"This
means boomers may now have tools for a
future that is not their grandfather's old
age. It also impacts most aspects of
independent living – from aging-in-place to
transportation to all the great and little
things that we call life. This is big news
for aging and for all of us."
The multi-site IMPACT study is the largest
study ever of a commercially available
brain-training program.
###
Smith et al., "A Cognitive Training Program
Designed Based on Principles of Brain
Plasticity: Results from the Improvement in
Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive
Cognitive Training Study." Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society: April 2009.
