Memory Mavens Mend Mature Minds Dr. David J. Demko, Gerontologist AgeVenture News Service Healthy elders, age 65-plus, improved their memory, concentration and problem solving skills as a result of participating in a 2 hour weekly cognitive training project for five weeks. The improvement continued for 2 years after the training, according to directors of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE). The study, published in the November 13, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), two components of the National Institutes of Health at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. "The trial was highly successful in showing that we can, at least in the laboratory, improve certain thinking and reasoning abilities in older people," says NIA's Richard M. Suzman, PhD. The improved cognitive abilities did not make any real change in the daily activities of the elder participants. However, Dr. Suzman hopes further study will help elder's apply their cognitive improvement to their daily tasks to tasks such as using medication or handling finances. Dr. Patricia A. Grady (NINR) is encouraged by the findings due to the long range implications such as improving cognitive abilities in healthy elders, as well as, helping those who experience cognitive problems in later life. The ACTIVE study participants ( 2,802 ) were divided into four groups. Group A received memory training. Group B received reasoning training. Group C received speed of processing training. Group D received no training. All participants were assessed prior to training, immediately after training, and again 1 and 2 years later. The memory-training group were taught strategies for remembering word lists and sequences of items, text material, and main ideas and details of stories. The reasoning group were taught how to solve problems that follow patterns such as strategies for reading a bus schedule or filling out an order sheet. The speed of processing group focused on the ability to identify and locate visual information quickly for use in tasks such as looking up a phone number, finding information on medicine bottles, and responding appropriately to traffic signs. Immediately following the 5-week training period, improvement was recorded in 26 percent of the participants in memory training, 74 percent of the participants in reasoning training, and 87 percent of the participants in speed training. "The improvements in memory, problem solving, and concentration following training were sizeable,” noted Karlene Ball, Ph.D., University of Alabama, the study’s corresponding author. The analysis did not find, however, that participants’ improvements in thinking and reasoning also improved their ability to perform everyday tasks like preparing food or handling medications. See related articles in AgeVenture archives. Cognitive Conquest of Cranial Corrosion Men's Memory Study Hits Below the Belt Neurobic Exercise Keeps Memory Fit AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP