Older adults who completed 11 or more sessions of training had a 48 percent reduced risk of dementia over the 10-year study period, a University of South Florida researcher finds

 TAMPA, Fla. (July 25, 2016) – A particular type of brain training can significantly and substantially reduce risk for dementia, said University of South Florida (USF) associate professor Jerri Edwards, PhD, in a presentation made yesterday in Toronto, Canada, at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

“This is the first time a cognitive intervention has been shown to protect against dementia in a large, randomized, controlled trial,” said Dr. Edwards, a faculty member in the USF School of Aging Studies and an associate member of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. “Relatively small amounts of training resulted in up to a 48 percent decrease in the risk of dementia over the 10-year study period.”

Dr. Edwards reported on the latest results from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study, a 10-year study on cognition and aging funded by the National Institute on Aging.

Jerri Edwards, PhD, an associate professor at the USF School of Aging Studies and associate member of the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, studies cognitive performance, including how quickly the brain can process information and act on it.

The ACTIVE Study enrolled 2,802 healthy older adults at six sites around the United States, and randomized the participants into four groups: 1) an intervention group receiving 10 one-hour sessions of classroom instruction on memory strategies; 2) an intervention group receiving the same amount of instruction on reasoning strategies; 3) an intervention group receiving the same amount of computerized brain training, involving perceptual practice and; 4) a control group measured at the same times as the intervention groups.

All participants were assessed on a number of cognitive and functional measures at the completion of the initial 10 sessions of training (after five weeks) and at follow-up visits at years one, two, three, five and 10. Subsets of each intervention group also received four additional “booster” training sessions at years one and three. In releasing the current results, the researchers looked at the risk of developing dementia over the 10-year period across all four groups.

Researchers found no significant difference in risk of dementia for the strategy-based memory or reasoning training groups as compared to the control group. However, as compared to the control group, the computerized brain training group were 33 less likely to develop dementia across 10 years, a statistically significant difference (p=0.012).

The researchers further saw a significant dose-response function. After adjusting for other variables indicating risk for dementia (e.g., race, sex, mental status, physical status, depressive symptoms), participants who engaged in 11 or more sessions of the computerized brain training showed a 48 percent reduction risk of dementia as compared to the control group (p=.005).

Participants in the computerized brain training group were trained on a highly specific task designed to improve the speed and accuracy of visual attention, including both divided and selective attention exercises. To perform the divided attention training task, a user identifies an object at the center (i.e., car or truck) of gaze while at the same time locating a target in the periphery (i.e., car). As the user gets the answers correct, the speed of presentation becomes progressively briefer, while the targets become more similar. In the more difficult training tasks, the target in the periphery is obscured by distracting objects, engaging selective attention.

A brain training exercise like that found on BrainHQ.com pushes a user to progressively improve visual speed of processing, with attentional demands both at the center of gaze and periphery.

There is substantial prior scientific literature on this training exercise, which is referred to as “speed of processing training”, “useful field of view training”, or “UFOV training.” The exercise was developed by Dr. Karlene Ball of the University of Alabama Birmingham and Dr. Dan Roenker of Western Kentucky University. It is now exclusively licensed to Posit Science Corporation, and is available as the “Double Decision” exercise of the BrainHQ.com brain training program.

Dr. Edwards noted that this particular training regimen has previously been shown effective in multiple clinical trials and, unlike other approaches, has been found to improve the everyday functional abilities of older adults. “These new data”, she said, “further demonstrate the longitudinal benefit of reducing risk of dementia.”

The benefits of the program are believed to be driven by engaging brain plasticity in a way that improves attention and up-regulates the chemical (neuromodulatory) system.

“We need to further delineate what makes some computerized cognitive training effective, while other types are not,” Dr. Edwards said. “We also need to investigate what is the appropriate amount of training to get the best results, Given that 10 to 14 sessions had these benefits, what would the effects of larger doses be? “

“Clearly, the time spent on effective brain training has potential long-lasting benefits for many aspects of older adults’ lives,” she concluded.

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The University of South Florida is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF is a Top 50 research university among both public and private institutions nationwide in total research expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. Serving nearly 48,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion and an annual economic impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Media contact:
Shani Fails, M.A., Director, Communications & Marketing
USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute
sfails@health.usf.edu or 813-396-0675

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NT-020, a proprietary supplement including blueberries and green tea, improved cognitive processing speed in clinical trial participants without impaired memory

Tampa, FL (Feb. 6, 2014) – Declines in the underlying brain skills needed to think, remember and learn are normal in aging. In fact, this cognitive decline is a fact of life for most older Americans.

Therapies to improve the cognitive health of older adults are critically important for lessening declines in mental performance as people age. While physical activity and cognitive training are among the efforts aimed at preventing or delaying cognitive decline, dietary modifications and supplements have recently generated considerable interest.

Now a University of South Florida (USF) study reports that a formula of nutrients high in antioxidants and other natural components helped boost the speed at which the brains of older adults processed information.

The USF-developed nutritional supplement, containing extracts from blueberries and green tea combined with vitamin D3 and amino acids, including carnosine, was tested by the USF researchers in a clinical trial enrolling 105 healthy adults, ages 65 to 85.

University of South Florida researchers Paula Bickford, PhD, and Brent Small, PhD, teamed up to investigate the effects of a USF-developed, antioxidant-rich nutritional supplement on the cognitive performance of older adults.

The two-month study evaluated the effects of the formula, called NT-020, on the cognitive performance of these older adults, who had no diagnosed memory disorders.

Those randomized to the group of 52 volunteers receiving NT-020 demonstrated improvements in cognitive processing speed, while the 53 volunteers randomized to receive a placebo did not. Reduced cognitive processing speed, which can slow thinking and learning, has been associated with advancing age, the researchers said.

The study, conducted at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, appears in the current issue of Rejuvenation Research (Vol. 17 No. 1, 2014).  Participants from both groups took a battery of memory tests before and after the interventions.

“After two months, test results showed modest improvements in two measures of cognitive processing speed for those taking NT-020 compared to those taking placebo,” said Brent Small, PhD, a professor in USF’s School of Aging Studies. “Processing speed is most often affected early on in the course of cognitive aging. Successful performance in processing tasks often underlies more complex cognitive outcomes, such as memory and verbal ability.”

Blueberries, a major ingredient in the NT-020 formula, are rich in polyphenols, a type of antioxidant containing a polyphenolic, or natural phenol substructure.

“The basis for the use of polyphenol-rich nutritional supplements as a moderator of age-related cognitive decline is the age-related increase in oxidative stress and inflammation,” said study co-principal investigator Paula C. Bickford, PhD, a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and senior research career scientist at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa. “Non-vitamin polyphenols are the most abundant modulators of oxidative stress and inflammation in our diet. NT-020 is 95 percent polyphenols.”

One of the main ingredients of the supplement, called NT-20, is extracted from blueberries.

In several preclinical trials, researchers gave aging laboratory rats NT-020 to see if it boosted memory and other cognitive performance by promoting the health of neurons in the aging brain. Those studies demonstrated that NT-020 promoted the growth of stem cells in the brain, produced an overall rejuvenating effect, benefitted animals with simulated stroke, and led to better cognitive performance.

The researchers plan future clinical trials with longer intervention periods so that the optimal time for taking the formula may be better understood.  The researchers speculated that if the study had included participants cognitively less healthy, or those with memory impairments, they may have observed “more robust findings.”

“In the future, having markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as brain-based measures of functioning, may allow us to identify the manner by which this compound, as well as others, may influence functioning,” they concluded.

The NT-020 formula was patented by the University of South Florida, in partnership with the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, and licensed to Natura Therapeutics, Inc.  The supplement is commercially available as NutraStem®.

The study was supported by a grant from the University of South Florida Neuroscience Collaborative to Dr. Small and Dr. Bickford.

Dr. Bickford is a co-founder of Natura Therapeutics, Inc.

– USF Health –

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Video Editor:  Klaus Herdocia, USF Health Communications

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
abaier@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3303

Media release by Florida Science Communications, Inc.