A cognitive training program based on principles of brain plasticity: results from the Improvement in Memory with Plasticity-based Adaptive Cognitive Training (IMPACT) study.

Publication:  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Lab/University:  Mayo Clinic, USC, Posit Science
Author:  Smith, GE, Housen P, Yaffe K, Ruff R, Kennison RF, Mahncke HW, Zelinski EM
 
Summary: 

With 487 participants, the IMPACT Study is one of the largest controlled randomized clinical trial of any brain fitness program to date. Participants in the active group who used the Brain Fitness Program increased their auditory processing speed by 131% and experienced an improvement in memory equivalent to approximately 10 years. Improvements generalized beyond trained tasks to other measures of memory. Three out of four people who used the Posit Science program self-reported positive changes in their everyday lives.