A study from the University of Montreal published Friday in the Alzheimer’s Association’s journal A&D:DADM successfully demonstrated that cognitive training sessions, including memory exercises, had visible benefits on cognition after six months of sessions and that this persisted five years later.
In the study, a group of 145 people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment were randomized to receive cognitive training (called MEMO+) and not. Those who had the intervention did two hours of small-group sessions a week for eight weeks, in addition to home exercises.
The results showed that memory declined slightly in those who learned the memorization strategies, but much less than in the groups who did not receive the intervention, summarized the study’s lead author, Sylvie Belleville, who is also a full professor of neuropsychology at the University of Montreal.
“People, as they get older, don’t necessarily use the right ways to memorize well. So we practice with people and teach them strategies to memorize […] and to better encode. We learn different strategies that make the person no longer just passive in the experience of memorizing, but much more active,” explains Dr. Belleville.
Participants learned how to memorize a face, a to-do list, and how to focus their attention when many things are happening at the same time.
There are a multitude of other factors to prevent decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia disorders such as physical activity, diet, sleep, social relationships, vascular risk factors, hearing and vision. “There are many factors that will contribute to increasing our protection or our risk that people can act on,” says Dr. Belleville.
“But what this study shows is that just intellectual stimulation and also offering structured interventions that give strategies has a significant and lasting impact.”
Combine with stimulating leisure activities
The MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) test, created in Montreal, is used to identify cognitive decline, particularly in neurodegenerative diseases.
“What this test showed is that the people who had the intervention were completely stable five years later, while the people who had not had the intervention declined,” said Dr. Belleville, who also works for the Research Center of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, affiliated with the CIUSSS. from the South-Central part of the Island of Montreal.
The neuropsychologist argued that it was expected that the study participants would decline since they have mild cognitive impairment and many of them are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. “It’s normal for it to decline, but what we observed is that memory declines much less and MoCA does not decline. So we think we’ve pushed back the time when the disease will have its impact,” she explained.
The research team led by Dr. Belleville wondered whether engaging in stimulating hobbies, such as learning a language or a musical instrument, could help with memory and attention. “We have data that indicates that yes, probably,” she says. “Especially when combined with interventions such as the one [de la présente étude]it seems to be positive.”
Dr. Belleville warns that it’s not enough to do a sudoku or a game of chess, especially if you’re good at those things. To get the benefits, you have to get out of your comfort zone. She also warns people who want to find memory exercises online and advises talking to their doctor. The doctor can refer their patient to a neurologist or show them reliable sources for practicing their memory.
