Dementia rates could be reduced by 38% via cognitive training

Cog­ni­tive Train­ing May Bestow Long-Term Ben­e­fits for Seniors (Psy­chi­atric News):

“A large mul­ti­site, ran­dom­ized, con­trolled clin­i­cal tri­al has found that cog­ni­tive train­ing can ben­e­fit seniors up to a decade after they’ve received the training…the researchers believe that their results have far-reach­ing clin­i­cal impli­ca­tions. As they said in their report, “These results pro­vide sup­port for the devel­op­ment of oth­er inter­ven­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly those that tar­get mul­ti­ple cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties and are more like­ly to have an effect on dai­ly liv­ing performance”…Indeed, they not­ed, “If inter­ven­tions that could delay onset of func­tion­al impair­ment by even six years were intro­duced, the num­ber of peo­ple affect­ed (by demen­tia) by 2050 would be reduced by 38 per­cent [accord­ing to pro­jec­tions report­ed in the May 2002 Annu­al Review of Pub­lic Health]. That would be of great pub­lic-health significance.”

To learn more:

• Brain train­ing works: Study finds 10-year ben­e­fit from 10-hour training