Brain Exercise Reverses Cognitive Decline, Study Finds

it’s not just your body that needs to be ‘worked out’. Your brain also needs training to stay young and fit.

A digital brain exercise, developed by teh American biotech company Posit Science corporation, has been put to the test by neurologists at McGill University in Canada, with some promising results.

In a rigorous, double-blinded controlled trial, 82 healthy adults over the age of 65 were randomly assigned to play either Posit’s ‘BrainHQ’ app or a recreational computer game for thirty minutes a day.

After 10 weeks, brain scans revealed that those who played BrainHQ, which focused on speed-based challenges, showed measurable increases in cholinergic activity, a type of brain signalling.

This was seen in a part of their brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) – which supports selective attention, inhibitory control, and memory.

Related: One Type of Activity Is Particularly Effective at Keeping Your Brain Young

The increase in cholinergic signaling was comparable in magnitude to how much the ACC usually shrinks over 10 years.

“The training restored cholinergic health to levels typically seen in someone 10 years younger,” claims neurologist Etienne de Villers-Sidani from McGill.

“This is the first time any intervention, drug or non-drug, has been shown to do that in humans.”

The BrainHQ app is currently available for purchase via monthly and yearly subscriptions, and the company claims it has developed the technology based on decades of neuroscience research.