Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most enigmatic brain afflictions and among the greatest health care challenges facing the nation. It affects more than 7 million Americans — a number projected to double by 2060. This article is the first in the series “USC United Against Alzheimer’s: Collaborating in Research and Care,” which illustrates how USC researchers and clinicians are making groundbreaking strides in the treatment, prevention and care of Alzheimer’s.

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Reading, writing and learning a language or two can lower your risk of dementia by almost 40%, according to a study that suggests millions of people could prevent or delay the condition.

Dementia is one of the world’s biggest health threats. The number of people living with the condition is forecast to triple to more than 150 million globally by 2050, and experts say it presents a big and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent.

US researchers found that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities throughout life, such as reading, writing or learning a new language, was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, and slower cognitive decline.

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Cognitive “speed training” can reduce the risk of a dementia diagnosis by 25 per cent – that’s according to results from the world’s first randomised controlled trial of any intervention against the condition.

“There was a lot of scepticism about whether or not brain training interventions were beneficial, and to me, [our study] answers the question that they are,” says Marilyn Albert at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

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A large, long-term study found that playing a brain training video game may help protect the brain against dementia for decades. Experts say the findings are the strongest evidence yet that cognitive training can create lasting changes in the brain.

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