Can cognitive speed training make your brain more connected? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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If you were asked to learn a computer based task that would require an hour twice a week for six weeks, and it was something you would largely have to learn to master on your own, would you sign up? That first session would be boosted in subsequent years by shorter sessions, but may reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. That’s one interpretation of a study by Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s expert Marilyn Albert and colleagues with twenty years of follow up.

Albert: We have guesses as to why this training is so effective but we really don't know. My guess is that when people are engaging in this task that they're making more brain connections, they're improving the connectivity in their brain and that's something about doing that in a very intense way in the beginning and learning, having booster sessions afterwards retains that pathway that you learned initially and that that's protected. But that's a guess we really don't know.   :30

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.