Reduce the risk of dementia through video games? This is what a controversial study, published on November 16 in the journal “Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions” affirms. The study, funded by the US National Institutes of Health, lasted 10 years.
The preliminary results were presented in July 2016 at the Alzheimer’s Association annual international conference in Toronto, Canada. Scientists have argued that older people who did a few hours of mental exercise on a computer to boost their speed in responding to visual stimulation would have reduced their risk of dementia by 30%.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed 2,800 healthy 74-year-old participants. Some of them have been subjected to games called “Double Decisions” which consist in quickly identifying objects on a computer. As the subject progresses, the difficulty and speed increase.
A 29% reduction in the risk of dementia
During the first five weeks of the study, they received at least ten hours of training. The remaining participants were divided into three groups: the first did standard memorization exercises, the second did reasoning exercises, and the third, a control group, did not perform any particular exercise.
The scientists measured the cognitive changes in the study subjects, once after five weeks, then annually for five years and finally ten years after the start of the experiment. They interviewed them to assess how they performed daily tasks. According to the lead author of the study, the practice of mental reaction games resulted in a 29% reduction in the risk of dementia compared to the control group. In the other two cases, no difference was found between the groups.
But the study remains controversial by professionals. “These results (…) are rather surprising and should be judged with reserve”, explains to AFP the professor of psychiatry at University College London Rob Howard, who did not participate in the study. “I find it unlikely that such a brief practice of these mental exercises could have had this effect,” he adds.
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