Can brain training reduce dementia risk? Despite new research, the jury is still out

There are good reasons to be cautious about a new study claiming computer-based training can reduce the risk of dementia. But what does work?More than 30 million people worldwide live with Alzheimer ’s disease, and while researchers are pushing hard to find a cure, their efforts so far havemetwithfailure. With no effective treatment on the horizon, prevention has become the only game in town. But what can be done to reduce the risk of dementia, now theleading cause of death in England and Wales?In researchpublished on Thursday, US scientists claim that a form of computer-based brain training can reduce the risk of dementia by 29%. The training was designed to speed up people ’s visual information processing, for example by having them spot a car on a screen, and a truck on the periphery of their vision, at the same time. Those who are claimed to have benefited trained for an hour, twice a week, for five weeks, and some went on to have booster sessions at the end of th e first and third years. To see if the training made any difference, the participants sat tests up to 10 years later.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Alzheimer's Dementia Science Health Mental health Society Source Type: news