Long‑Running ACTIVE Trial Links Speed Training to Lower Dementia Risk

A 20‑year follow‑up to the U.S. ACTIVE trial (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly), which enrolled nearly 3,000 adults ages 65–94 in the late 1990s, reports that participants who completed computerized 'speed of processing' brain‑training sessions plus booster sessions years later were about 25% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over the next two decades. The randomized study assigned older adults to 10 sessions focused on memory, reasoning or processing speed, or to no training; only the speed‑training arm, especially with up to 18 total sessions over three years, showed this long‑term dementia‑incidence benefit in results now published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions. Lead University of Florida researcher Michael Marsiske said he was "absolutely surprised" by the finding, noting earlier ACTIVE reports had shown durable gains in daily functioning and fewer car crashes but not a clear reduction in dementia diagnoses. The speed‑training tasks required volunteers to rapidly process visual information and make quick decisions as difficulty increased, and the team hypothesizes this may strengthen brain networks in ways that protect cognition. The researchers stress the intervention appears safe and plan follow‑up trials that combine cognitive training with lifestyle measures like exercise, diet and blood‑pressure control, as scientists and advocates continue to look for non‑drug ways to curb Alzheimer’s and related dementias in an aging U.S. population.