Coached Lifestyle Program Leaves No Extra Mark on Brain Scans
Graded Moderate — 983 older adults were assigned at random for two years; the hints about subgroups do not hold up after correcting for the many tests run.
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial
- Participants
- 983
- Duration
- 2 years
- Funding
- National Institute on Aging (NIH), Alzheimer's Association
A closely coached lifestyle program did not change older adults' brain scans over two years clearly differently from a self-guided one.
For two years, older adults moved more, ate better and trained their memory. One group did this in a closely coached program, the other mostly on their own. Afterwards, brain scans showed no clear difference between the two groups. In this part of the study, thinking tests did not clearly differ either.
The work is part of the US POINTER trial and included 983 people aged 60 to 79. All of them sat a lot, ate a less balanced diet and had other risks for mental decline. Which group they joined was chosen at random. The team measured protein deposits linked to Alzheimer's and the size of the hippocampus, a key memory region. One hint emerged: people who started with a smaller hippocampus did slightly better on thinking tests with coaching than on their own.
That hint needs caution. The authors say it would not hold up after correcting for the many tests they ran, and it needs to be repeated. Two years may also be too short to see changes in the brain. Both groups followed a lifestyle program, so there was no group without one.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.