There is quite a lot of controversy around this topic, as in any new field of knowledge. Perhaps little by little research in this field will shed light on the effects that habits such as cognitive training can have on brain aging.
One such study was recently published in the scientific journal BMC Geriatrics (2016) by a group of researchers from Shanghai, China. Seventy elderly people participated in the experiment and were divided into three groups: a group that carried out a multidomain cognitive training program (that is, with exercises of various cognitive functions such as memory, attention, flexibility …); another group whose training program focused on a single cognitive domain; and a third party that we call control that did not perform any type of task. The trainings lasted about three months and were carried out in two hour-long sessions per week. To measure changes in mental functioning, all participants underwent a series of cognitive tests, and to assess brain changes, brain MRIs were performed.
The results of the experiment are in line with the benefits of cognitive training, providing data on how this can happen in neural terms. Both training groups, both multidomain and single domain, showed brain changes. Specifically, a smaller increase in what is known as functional entropy and a smaller decrease in time-dependent entropy were observed, an index that is known to decrease with aging and that is associated with alterations in brain structure and cerebral blood flow .
Ting Li and his team found, among other things, a time-dependent decrease in entropy in the inferior frontal gyrus, superior medial frontal gyrus and the thalamus in the training group of various mental functions. These changes also correlated with improvements in some of the cognitive functioning tests.
The authors conclude that cognitive skills training can produce plastic changes in brain connections, and that this could be the basis for the benefit of mental training. This is yet another finding in favor of not leaving your brain at the mercy of time and the convenience of keeping it active as a way to promote your health.
Marisa Fernández is a Senior Neuropsychologist at Unobrain
