ACTIVE trial shows training improves memories of senior citizens

By Mary Hardin

The study, the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) was the largest in the nation involving cognitive training of senior citizens. The study involved 2,802 older adults nationally, including 487 participants tested by researchers at the IU School of Medicine (IUSM).

“The training not only improved participants’ cognitive abilities at the time of the training but the improvement was evident 2 years later,” said Frederick Unverzagt, associate professor of psychiatry and co-leader of the study along with Dr. David Smith, professor of medicine at the IUSM. “The results are exciting because they prove that certain thinking and reasoning skills can be improved in older adults.”

Participants were divided into four groups--three groups that received either memory training, reasoning training, or speed of processing training, and a fourth group that received no training. The 10 training sessions were done with small groups of four to five people, lasting a maximum of 75 minutes. The sessions continue for five to six weeks. Participants received cognitive testing prior to the training, immediately after the training and again one and two years later.

Those in the memory-training group were taught strategies for remembering word lists and sequences of items, text material and main ideas and details of stories. Participants in the reasoning group were taught how to solve problems that follow patterns. Speed of processing training focused on the ability to identify and locate visual information quickly.

Immediately following the training period, 87 percent of participants in speed training, 74 percent of participants in reasoning training, and 26 percent of participants in memory training demonstrated reliable improvement on their respective cognitive ability. However, the analysis did not find that the improvement in thinking also improved the participants’ ability to perform everyday tasks like preparing food or handling medications.

“All of our participants were living independently at the beginning of the study, so it will be interesting to see if the training can prevent decline in everyday living skills over time,” Unverzagt said.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Nursing Research, both components of the National Institutes of Health.