Countless numbers of scientific studies in recent years provide evidence for the benefits of memory training to help older adults improve memory functioning, as well as the potential for any individual to minimize the risk of developing memory loss by engaging in preventive exercise. Memory Training Centers of America provides both preventive and treatment programs with the goal of helping all individuals to maintain optimal memory functioning throughout one's lifetime. One of the most recently published and important scientific studies supporting the efficacy of memory training is reported below, and then followed by additional study excerpts, references, and/or links. 

A seven-year study financed by the National Institutes on Health and Aging, titled: "Long-term Effects of Cognitive Training on Everyday Functional Outcomes in Older Adults" was reported January 2, 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study reports that 2,100 Americans ages 65 to 94 derived long-lasting benefit from a short burst of training on how to improve memory, reasoning power and mind speed. 

The study, called ACTIVE, was a collaboration of 11 scientists at eight academic institutions, plus Jeffrey Elias, a cognitive aging specialist at the National Institute on Aging. 

The five-week training consisted of 10 90-minute sessions on memory, reasoning and speed of processing. Even five years later, study participants outperformed non-participants on cognitive functioning and everyday skills, such as handling medication tasks, looking up phone book numbers and making calls, finding food in their pantries, etc. The gains delayed typical cognitive decline of healthy adults by seven to 14 years. Seventy-year-olds exhibited the mental quickness of 60-year-olds. 

"Our findings clearly suggest that people who engage in an active program of mental training in late life can experience long-lasting gains," said University of Florida psychologist Michael Marsiske, one of the study's researchers. Similarly, Dr. David A. Loewenstein, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami's School of Medicine found that people with early Alzheimer's who were trained in real-life tasks like face-name recognition and balancing checkbooks, improved significantly in those skills.  

Cognitive Training Boosts Daily Living Skills in Healthy Seniors Older Adults

Source: The Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation, January 3rd 2007 

 "Healthy, older men and women who received training to boost thinking, memory, and cognitive skills reported doing better on everyday tasks like shopping, preparing meals, and balancing the checkbook, researchers report. The benefits were evident up to five years after the initial training sessions. These findings suggest that regular challenges to boost memory and reasoning may help to keep seniors mentally vital and allow them to continue to live independently. In an editorial accompanying the study, doctors speculate that cognitive training may be especially beneficial for those at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Such training, they say, might one day be offered in senior centers, churches, schools, and clinics. "Importantly," they write, "cognitive training programs may give individuals a greater sense of control over the disturbing prospect of cognitive decline and have a beneficial effect on their quality of life."

Link:http://www.alzinfo.org/newsarticle/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=203&zoneid=1 

Professional Memory Training 

Source: "Causes of and Treatments for Memory Impairment", Harvard Medical School 07.07. 

"Some medical centers offer memory training programs in which people meet every week or so to learn memory-enhancement techniques, then practice them as homework. Another alternative is to attend a series of individual sessions with a clinician who specializes in memory and other cognitive problems, such as a psychologist. Do memory training programs work? Studies on the effectiveness of memory-enhancement programs have found some benefit. People with memory problems that are substantial enough to interfere with their daily lives are most likely to benefit from individual treatment, where their particular needs can be identified and addressed. If you are considering a memory-enhancement program, choose one that is run by a health professional with specialized training in cognitive rehabilitation. Beware of memory-enhancement programs that use computer games as a one-size-fits-all means of strengthening your memory."

Link: http://www.health.harvard.edu/special_health_reports/improving_memory 

Treatment of Memory Loss and Alzheimer's disease with a Computerized Training Program in Assisted Living facilities. Pilot Study I; The relationship between initial Complaint and Improvement in Memory over a 3 month training period [MTCA ARTICLE] 

Authors: Peter Magaro, PhD, Bruce Brotter, PhD (MTCA) 

. "The high complaint group significantly decreased their complaints on the second testing ( t=.04; SD=2.68 and 1.80; X= 5.95 versus 4.50 and the low complaint group raised their complaints but not significantly (t= .09; X=1.96 and 3.22; SD = .96 and 1.63). A major problem in treatment is assessing the patient's complaint.  In AD the "canary in the mine" is the early memory deficit which can be caused by many other factors beside AD but if isolated correctly can allow early and possibly preventive treatment.  Our results support other findings suggesting that with relatively healthy elderly individuals, a number of memory complaints should be taken seriously and suggest a course of cognitive rehabilitation therapy".  

Long-term Effects of Cognitive Training on Everyday Functional Outcomes in Older Adults 

Source: Sherry L. Willis, PhD (et al.); JAMA. 2006; 296:2805-2814 

"Decline in cognitive abilities has been shown to lead to an increased risk of difficulty in performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). However, whether interventions to maintain or enhance cognitive abilities in older adults will prevent or delay these functional difficulties is unclear. Prior interventions with older adults have targeted those with cognitive deficits or functional disabilities and have focused on remediation rather than prevention. Prior studies have shown that cognitive interventions can improve cognitive abilities in normal elders but have not included functional outcome measures and have been limited by small, homogeneous samples and lack of randomization."

"The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study is the first multicenter, randomized controlled trial to examine the long-term outcomes of cognitive interventions on the daily functioning of older individuals living independently. Previously reported data from the ACTIVE study showed that each of 3 cognitive interventions improved the cognitive ability it targeted and these improvements were maintained through the 2 years of follow-up. This article addresses the long-term effects of cognitive training on the maintenance of self-reported IADL."

"Conclusions: Reasoning training resulted in less functional decline in self-reported IADL. Compared with the control group, cognitive training resulted in improved cognitive abilities specific to the abilities trained that continued 5 years after the initiation of the intervention."

Link: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/296/23/2805 

Improvement of Episodic Memory in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Healthy Older Adults: Evidence from a Cognitive Intervention Program 

Source: Sylvie Belleville (et al.); Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2006;22:486-499 

 "The efficacy of cognitive training was assessed in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and persons with normal cognitive aging. The intervention effect (pre- and post-intervention difference) was significant on two of the primary outcome measures (delayed list recall and face-name association). A significant pre-post-effect was also found on measures of subjective memory and well-being. These results suggest that persons with MCI can improve their performance on episodic memory when provided with cognitive training."

Link: http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?doi=10.1159/000096316 

Mending memory: Psychologists are exploring memory enhancers that exploit the latest research in brain function 

Source: Rachel Adelson, Neuropsychology, September 2005, Vol 36, No. 8 

In a 2002 study reported in APA's Neuropsychology (Vol. 16, No. 4, pages 538-547), Clare found that patients with mild Alzheimer's benefit in a lasting way from simple, systematic memory training that may enlist the still-intact neocortex. Participants were able to learn people's names by using mnemonic devices, "vanishing cues" (filling in more and more letters in a name until recall kicks in) and "expanding rehearsal" (testing themselves in spaced intervals over time). This kind of training doesn't rely on faulty parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. Clare speculated at the time that, "If other brain areas can take over some of the functions of damaged areas, then this opens up new directions for rehabilitation."

Link: http://apa.org/monitor/sep05/mending.aspx 

Preventive Memory Training [ARTICLE ABOUT MTCA] 

Source: Jessica LaGrossa, March 15^th 2004 

"Four million Americans were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1998. [] The Alzheimer's Treatment and Memory Training Centers of America (ATMTC), headquartered in Forest Hills, NY, has estimated that there is a five-year span between initial symptoms of dementia and admission to a nursing home. A diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, the early warning sign of dementia, could grant patients the opportunity to seek preventive treatment that could give them at least five more years of normal functioning time. [] Recognizing the need for preventive care, the ATMTC has devised a treatment plan to serve the growing population of Alzheimer's patients."

Link: http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/Article/Preventive-Memory-Training-8.aspx 

Effects of Cognitive Training Interventions With Older Adults 

Source: Karlene Ball, PhD (et al.); JAMA. 2002; 288:2271-2281 

"Nearly half of community-dwelling persons aged 60 years and older express concern about declining mental abilities. Although there is substantial evidence that many cognitive abilities and processes are related to measures of functional status, need for care, and quality of life, few studies have addressed whether improving cognitive functions might have short- or long-term effects on activities related to living independently. Interventions designed to delay or prevent the need for nursing homes, home care, and hospital stays can save health care costs, while also ensuring the independence and dignity of the aging population." 

Conclusions:  Results support the effectiveness and durability of the cognitive training interventions in improving targeted cognitive abilities. Training effects were of a magnitude equivalent to the amount of decline expected in elderly persons without dementia over 7- to 14-year intervals.

Link: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/18/2271