Playful Training Improves Early Symptoms of Dementia

(CONNECT) According to a report, a team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland in St. Gallen has shown in a study that so-called exergame training significantly improves the cognitive performance and memory of people with the first signs of dementia.

Exergames combine physical activity with mental tasks. A study involving ETH Zurich had already shown in 2021 that this type of training improves both the cognitive and physical abilities as well as the quality of life of severely impaired dementia patients.

In another recent study with only slightly impaired people, an ETH team was also able to measure structural improvements in brain regions that are important in neurodegenerative diseases after just twelve weeks of this training. The volume of these brain regions increased. In contrast, the volume of these areas in the cerebral cortex decreased in the people in the control group - in line with the normal course of the disease.

All this proves, according to study leader Prof. Eling D. De Bruin, all this "impressively proves that the brain is plastic - even in people who are showing the first signs of dementia". As he goes on to explain, these results are encouraging. However, "studies in which participants train for longer than three months must show whether personalized playful training can actually delay or even prevent the onset of dementia. Corresponding projects are already planned."

In the two studies, around 40 cognitively slightly impaired people with an average age of 73 were examined. They trained at home for around 25 minutes five times a week for twelve weeks using a system that included a screen with game software and a floor plate with four fields that measure steps. ce/mm