October 26, 2017
Co-PIs, George Rebok, PhD, and Sherry Willis, PhD, were recently awarded $756k from NIH to do a 20-year follow-up to the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study. This study is the largest randomized clinical trial to examine whether cognitive training enhances both cognitive abilities and everyday functioning in normal older adults. Findings at five and ten-year follow-ups provide strong support for the benefits of cognitive training, including preliminary, but promising findings suggesting an effect of training on incidence of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Using a wide range of linked data including Medicare and Medicaid Claims, National Death Index, driving records, and credit reports, this 20-year follow-up hopes to address whether training-related enhancement of cognition and everyday functioning is associated with a long-term reduction in disability, loss of independence, and incident dementia in advanced old age and a reduction in associated financial costs.
The ACTIVE trial is mentioned in the ADRC news feature story Dancing to Remember: The Science of Brain Healthy Activities.
- Project Information - NIH Project Reporter, ACTIVE COGNITIVE TRAINING TRIAL: 20-YR FOLLOW-UP OF FUNCTIONING, HEALTH, & DEMENTIA