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DynamicBrain Inc.
Tuesday April 30, 2024
A new randomized controlled trial among older adults, with normal cognitive aging, showed that a specific type of cognitive training resulted in improved abilities at untrained cognitive tasks and better maintenance of brain structure than was seen in the control group doing an equal amount of training on computer games. The cognitive training used by the intervention group in the study was the brain health app BrainHQ, made by Posit Science and provided in Canada by their Canadian partner DynamicBrain.
Researchers, at study sites in Dallas and Iowa City enrolled 124 older adults with normal aging brains, who were then randomized into either an intervention group using BrainHQ exercises or a control group using computerized causal games. Participants were asked to engage in 42-minute sessions, 5 times per week for 10 weeks, for a total of 35 hours of training.
Participants underwent cognitive testing and brain imaging at the beginning of the trial, at its conclusion, and then six months later. At the conclusion of training, participants in the BrainHQ group showed a significant improvement in the overall cognitive composite score as compared to the control group.
The BrainHQ group also had imaging results showing a significant difference in the maintenance of several areas of brain structure known to diminish with normal aging, as compared to the control group, which displayed expected age-related decreases.
More specifically, the BrainHQ group showed significant maintenance of the caudate volume (rather than the grey matter deterioration typically accompanied by adverse changes in neural activity and functional connectivity seen in cognitive aging and increased Alzheimer’s risk). The researchers also noted significant maintained fractional anisotropy in the left Internal Capsule and left Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (which typically experience decline in white matter integrity with aging and increased cognitive risk).
Six months after the training, the between group difference still favored the intervention, but were no longer significant. The researchers noted that, due to the Covid pandemic, 25% of participants missed their six-month follow-ups, rendering those results under-powered.
“This study looks at more than just how BrainHQ improves cognitive performance,” said Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. “By including these imaging measures, this study shows how brain training works – by actually rewiring the brain – and shows that these exercises improve the health of brain as a biological system while improving cognitive performance in daily life.
There are more than 200 published studies of the exercises in BrainHQ which have shown benefits, including gains in standard measures of cognition (attention, speed, memory, executive function), in standard measures of quality of life (mood, confidence and control, managing stress, health-related quality of life) and in real world activities (gait, balance, driving, work). BrainHQ is now offered in the US, without charge, as a benefit by leading national and 5-star Medicare Advantage plans and by hundreds of clinics and communities. In Canada, it is offered by the Quebec Federation of Alzheimer Societies and numerous health institutions, rehab, hearing and vision centres. Consumers can also try BrainHQ for free at https://dynamicbrain.brainhq.com.
About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness training. Its exercises, available in Canada in English at dynamicbrain.brainhq.com and in French globally at dynamicbrain-fr.brainhq.com, have been shown to significantly improve brain speed, attention, memory and numerous standard measures of quality of life in multiple studies published in more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading science and medical journals. Three public television documentaries as well as numerous stories on news programs, in national magazines, and in major newspapers have featured Posit Science’s work. The company’s science team is led by renowned neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, PhD.
About DynamicBrain
DynamicBrain is the Canadian partner of Posit Science, providing Canadians and French-speaking people around the globe with brain training and cognitive exercises that are backed by strong science, and improve a person’s quality of life through six key pillars: Attention, Memory, Brain Speed, Navigation, People Skills, and Intelligence (dynamicbrain.brainhq.com and dynamicbrain-fr.brainhq.com). DynamicBrain is passionate about health and new forms of cognitive training with a clear focus on educating the public on the vital importance of improving brain fitness as part of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. (www.DynamicBrain.ca)
