March 11, 2026
Older men and women who completed five to six weeks of a computerized brain training program showed benefits up to two decades later, according to a new report. The study found that those who engaged in a program designed to speed the brain’s processing were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease years down the road.
The study, called the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly, or ACTIVE, study enrolled 2,802 adults in 1998–99. They ranged in age from 65 to 94.
Volunteers were randomly assigned to receive one of three types of brain training programs focusing on memory, reasoning or speed of brain processing. With memory training, participants learned strategies for remembering lists of words and details of stories. Reasoning training required participants to recognize patterns in series of numbers or letters. And speed training required participants to identify images on a computer screen and to make quick decisions about them.
Participants received up to 10 brain training sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes over five to six weeks. Some also received up to four follow-up training sessions one and three years after the initial training. A control group did not receive any specialized brain training.
At 20 years of follow-up, the researchers found that those who had received the cognitive speed training along with booster sessions showed lasting improvements. They were 25 percent less likely to have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Speed training without the booster sessions, as well as memory or reasoning training, did not have a significant effect on dementia risk.
“Seeing that boosted speed training was linked to lower dementia risk two decades later is remarkable because it suggests that a fairly modest nonpharmacological intervention can have long-term effects,” said study author Marilyn Albert, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Even small delays in the onset of dementia may have a large impact on public health and help reduce rising health care costs.”
In earlier analyses, the researchers had found that those who received any type of brain training showed improvements in memory and thinking skills and carrying out everyday tasks five to 10 years later, compared to those in the control group. The authors speculate that the speed training may have had longer-lasting benefits because it challenges the brain in unique ways and was tailored to individual abilities. People who performed better at the start quickly moved on to progressively greater challenges, for example, and tasks became increasingly challenging and time restricted as learning improved.
The findings, published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Intervention, add to growing evidence that mental stimulation is good for the aging brain. Tasks that challenge the brain are thought to bolster brain cells and the connections between them and build so-called cognitive reserve, which may protect against Alzheimer’s.
More research is needed to better understand how brain training games may fit into a cognitive fitness program. But the findings suggest that such games may be one more way to help bolster the brain. The program used in this study was updated and is now available as a game called “Double Decision” through a company called BrainHQ, which offers a variety of computerized brain games. Other brain training programs are also widely available, including through libraries and senior centers. Even a few hours of training today, the findings suggest, may have benefits up to 20 years later.
By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source: Norma B. Coe, Katherine E. M. Miller, Chuxuan Sun, et al: “Impact of cognitive training on claims-based diagnosed dementia over 20 years: evidence from the ACTIVE study.” Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Intervention. February 9, 2026
