At the Cusp of Solving Cognitive Aging?

  It’s Brain Awareness Week, and we’ll be hearing about breakthroughs in basic science that could lead to big advances in how we live. Yet, most of the discoveries will require decades of further work, before they help people. But, what if we had a time machine and could travel ahead to see which of these discoveries actually becomes important in our lives? Well, we don’t have a time machine, but the two of us do have decades of experience in turning basic science discoveries into products that change lives.  We want to tell you about that journey — from what we discovered in basic research decades ago to how it now impacts the lives of millions. Our story began with a basic science inquiry: Can brain training improve cognitive skills in a manner that impacts real world function and changes the trajectory of aging? I (Karlene Ball) was one of the organizers of an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial, called the ACTIVE Study. ACTIVE looked at three different theories about what is most important for successful cognitive aging — memory (which is the most often-cited concern about cognitive aging), reasoning (which helps us continue to function independently as we age) or speed of processing (which is fundamental to receiving and acting on information and which slows with each passing decade). We enrolled about 3,000 older (aged 65+) people, and divided them into a control group and three training groups: (1) memory training – a classroom program abou...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Aging and the Brain Brain Plasticity BrainHQ Source Type: blogs