Axios: Exercise your brain

Posted on August 12, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Exercise your brain
Illustration of a brain wearing a sweatband.
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
 
Your daily crossword is still a flex. But scientists are testing a more focused question: Can you train an aging brain to process information faster — and potentially change its trajectory?

🧩 Why it matters: A growing body of research suggests certain kinds of cognitive exercises can produce measurable changes in the brain. One long-running trial even linked a specific type of training to fewer dementia diagnoses, Axios’ Natalie Daher writes.

 The evidence: Recent studies highlighted by The Washington Post (gift link) suggest that targeted cognitive training may affect systems involved in attention and memory as well as brain structure.

⚡ Zoom in: A separate, much smaller randomized clinical trial presented last month at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference offers a clue about what might be happening biologically.

Researchers from Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and Penn State randomly assigned 53 participants to three groups that trained two to three hours a week for about three months.

🔬 One group practiced higher-order thinking, such as planning, reasoning and shifting attention.

Another concentrated on processing speed and visual attention. In one exercise, for example, participants had to identify a vehicle flashed briefly in the center of a screen while also remembering where a Route 66 sign appeared.

A third, active-control group played familiar games, including Solitaire, word searches and a version of Connect Four.

Before and after the training, researchers took blood samples to measure two forms of amyloid beta, a protein closely associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Only the speed-training group showed favorable shifts in those Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers.

🧪 Reality check: The science is still early. Researchers don’t yet know whether those changes translate into better everyday functioning or lower disease risk.

There’s still no single accepted measure of a “healthy” brain, and braintraining isn’t a substitute for exercise or other healthy habits.

The bottom line: Keep up your Sudoku if you enjoy it.

The bigger question now: Can scientists figure out which mental workouts actually help our brains age better?
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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