{"id":28076,"date":"2026-02-10T13:48:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.iq\/?p=28076"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:48:03","slug":"brain-training-cuts-dementia-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/brain-training-cuts-dementia-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Brain Training Reduces Dementia Risk by 25%, Study Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A major scientific study has found that brain training and dementia prevention are closely linked, with a simple mental exercise significantly lowering the risk of developing dementia in older adults.<br \/>\nThe research is based on a randomized controlled trial, considered the most reliable method in medical science, with follow-up data spanning two decades.<br \/>\nThe findings indicate that only one specific type of brain training proved effective, while others showed no measurable benefit.<\/p>\n<h2>Evidence From a Long-Term Randomized Trial<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers announced that the randomized, controlled study demonstrated a 25% reduction in dementia risk among participants who underwent targeted brain training.<br \/>\nThe results were published in the journal Alzheimer\u2019s &amp; Dementia: Translational Research &amp; Clinical Research.<\/p>\n<h3>Researchers\u2019 Assessment<\/h3>\n<p>Marilyn Albert of Johns Hopkins University, who took part in the study, told Agence France-Presse that this is the first highly credible research to offer practical guidance on how dementia risk can be reduced.<br \/>\nShe emphasized that the results do not apply to all brain-training games, but only to the specific method tested.<\/p>\n<h2>The \u201cACTIVE\u201d Study Explained<\/h2>\n<p>The study, known as the ACTIVE trial, began in the late 1990s and included more than 2,800 participants aged 65 and older.<br \/>\nParticipants were randomly assigned to one of three types of cognitive training:<br \/>\nProcessing speed training<br \/>\nMemory training<br \/>\nReasoning and logical thinking training<\/p>\n<h3>Training Duration and Structure<\/h3>\n<p>Participants completed two one-hour training sessions per week over five weeks.<br \/>\nThey later received four booster sessions after one year and another four after three years, bringing the total training time to just 24 hours.<\/p>\n<h2>Processing Speed Training Shows Clear Benefit<\/h2>\n<p>Follow-up assessments after five, ten, and most recently twenty years showed that processing speed training was \u201csignificantly beneficial,\u201d according to Albert.<br \/>\nData from the US government healthcare program Medicare indicated that dementia risk was reduced by 25% among those who received processing speed training along with booster sessions.<br \/>\nThe other two types of training showed no statistically significant effect.<\/p>\n<h3>What the Training Involved<\/h3>\n<p>Processing speed training required participants to quickly identify and click on images, such as cars and road signs, appearing in different areas of a computer screen, aiming to improve visual attention and reaction speed.<\/p>\n<h2>Dementia as a Global Health Challenge<\/h2>\n<p>According to the World Health Organization, dementia is the seventh leading cause of death worldwide and affects around 57 million people globally, underscoring the importance of proven preventive measures.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion:<\/h2>\n<p>The study suggests that brain training and dementia prevention can be effectively linked through targeted processing speed exercises, while also highlighting that not all cognitive training programs provide the same benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A major scientific study has found that brain training and dementia prevention are closely linked, with a simple mental exercise significantly lowering the risk of developing dementia in older adults. The research is based on a randomized controlled trial, considered the most reliable method in medical science, with follow-up data spanning two decades. The findings [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28079,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28076\/revisions\/28079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}