Cecily O'Connor
RedwoodAge.com
Computer brains are helping human brains stay healthy, and the results may help boomers age more gracefully than their grandparents did.
Researchers for the Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California followed 487 adults aged 65 and over for eights weeks. Half of the adults were placed in a control group that watched educational videos on art, history and literature topics, and then quizzed on the content. The experimental group, meanwhile, worked on six auditory exercises designed to help the brain improve the speed and accuracy of processing.
The researchers measured memory changes at the end of eight weeks with a standardized tool, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Overall, they saw a 4 percent increase in the group that used the program, and a 2 percent increase in the control group.
"We found that the improvement in these skills was significantly greater in the experimental group - about double," said Dr. Glenn Smith, Mayo Clinic neuropsychologist and lead researcher on the study. "What's unique in this study is that brain-processing activities seemed to help aspects of memory that were not directly exercised by the program - a new finding in memory research."
The results have personal implications for aging baby boomers and their parents, said Dr. Joe Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. Brain fitness is increasingly seen as a way to slow some natural effects of aging and delay the onset of memory-loss. The ability to process visual information faster could be essential to daily tasks like driving that help people maintain a sense of independence.
"This means boomers may now have tools for a future that is not their grandfather's old age," Dr. Coughlin said. "It also impacts most aspects of independent living - from aging-in-place to transportation ..."
However, Dr. Smith noted that because participants were in generally good health, there is no evidence that training would prevent Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. One in eight boomers is expected to develop Alzheimer's, which is already the sixth leading cause of death in the US.
Still, participants in the experimental group self-reported memory improvement, too, indicating the change was noticeable in day-to-day tasks.
"Now I don't have to write down shopping lists," said Marlene Allen, a 75-year-old Mill Valley, Ca. resident.
On The Brain
The computer training program was developed by Posit
Science, a San Francisco company that financed the research. Mayo Clinic
researchers said they do not have financial ties to the firm.
Posit Science software has been generating a lot of interest in helping adults forestall memory loss. Allstate Insurance recently invited some policyholders to try sharpen their cognitive skills with Posit's InSight program so researchers could evaluate whether the software helped reduce driving accidents.
Overall, the Mayo Clinic results underscore computer training programs can help aging adults make better-informed decisions about ways to improve memory. There's also no harm in trying other approaches, including mnemonics, crosswords or playing piano. But there's little evidence these methods sustain benefits in memory, Dr. Smith said.
"Brain processing speed slows as we age," he said. "The study indicates that choosing a memory-enhancing approach that focuses on improving brain processing speed and accuracy, rather than memory retention, may be helpful."
The research will be published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
