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. 2024 Jul 18;8(1):1069-1087.
doi: 10.3233/ADR-230199. eCollection 2024.

Long-Term Effects of the Multicomponent Program BrainProtect® on Cognitive Function: One-Year Follow-Up in Healthy Adults

Michelle Celine Kunkler  1 , Julia Maria Falkenreck  1 , Anja Ophey  2 , Katharina Dencker  1 , Andrea Friese  3 , Petra Jahr  4 , Elke Kalbe  2 , Gereon Nelles  5 , M Cristina Polidori  1   6
Affiliations

Long-Term Effects of the Multicomponent Program BrainProtect® on Cognitive Function: One-Year Follow-Up in Healthy Adults

Michelle Celine Kunkler et al. J Alzheimers Dis Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Age-related neuronal changes impact cognitive integrity, which is a major contributor to health and quality of life. The best strategy to prevent cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease is still debated.

Objective: To investigate the long-term effects of the eight-week multicomponent training program BrainProtect® on cognitive abilities compared to general health counseling (GHC) in cognitively healthy adults in Germany.

Methods: Healthy adults (age ≥50 years) previously randomized to either GHC (n = 72) or BrainProtect (intervention group, IG, n = 60) for eight-weeks (once weekly, 90 minutes, group-based) underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) evaluation 3- and 12-months after intervention end.

Results: Dropout rates were n = 8 after 3 months and n = 19 after 12 months. No significant long-term effect of BrainProtect was observed for the primary endpoint Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-Plus) total score. Logical reasoning was significantly improved (p = 0.024) 12 months after completion of the training program in IG participants compared to the GHC group independent of sex, age, education, diet, and physical activity. In IG participants, thinking flexibility (p = 0.019) and confrontational naming (p = 0.010) were improved 3 months after completing the intervention compared to the GHC group, however, after conservative Bonferroni adjustment, significance was lost.

Conclusions: BrainProtect® independently improved logical reasoning compared to GHC up to 12 months after cognitive training's end in healthy adults. To uncover the long-term clinical significance of multicomponent cognitive training in healthy adults, studies with larger sample size and frequent follow up visits are necessary.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cognitive integrity; cognitive training; dementia prevention; long-term effects.

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Conflict of interest statement

M. Cristina Polidori is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. M. Cristina Polidori is a member of the advisory board of memodio (multidomain app for the treatment of MCI) and an Editorial Board Member of Aging Research Reviews and of the ‘Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift’. M. Cristina Polidori receives the royalties for the publication of two books: the latest edition of ‘Paziente Anziano - Paziente Geriatrico - Medicina della Complessit‘a’, EdiSES 2020 and ‘Ratgeber Altern - Es ist nie zu spät’, Elsevier 2021. M. Cristina Polidori is a member of the supervisory board and curatorship of Diakonie Michaelshoven e.V. M. Cristina Polidori and Elke Kalbe are members of the scientific advisory board of the Bundesverband Gedächtnistraining e.V. Elke Kalbe has received grants from the German Ministry of Education and Research, Brandau-Laibach Stiftung, Germany, RheinEnergie Stiftung, Germany, consulting fees from Memodio GmbH, Germany, Kyowa Kirin Services Ltd, UK, lecture fees from Biogen GmbH, Germany, EISAI GmbH, Germany, Abbvie GmbH, Germany, KoJ Gehörtraining, Switzerland, licence fees from Prolog GmbH, Germany; all outside the submitted work. Gereon Nelles is a board member of the Berufsverband Deutscher Nervenärzte (BVDN) e.V. Gereon Nelles is a member of the advisory board of memodio (multidomain app for the treatment of MCI). Petra Jahr is the regional manager ‘Nordrhein-Westfalen West‘ of the Bundesverband Gedächtnistraining e.V. Andrea Friese is the former educational manager of the Bundesverband Gedächtnistraining e.V. Anja Ophey received grants of the Koeln Fortune Program (grant-no. 329/2021), Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, and the “Novartis-Stiftung für therapeutische Forschung” and speaking honoraria of ProLog Wissen GmbH, all outside the submitted work. Julia Maria Falkenreck is a member of the Bundesverband Gedächtnistraining e.V. The other authors have no conflict of interest to report.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of Participation BrainProtect 2.0.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Development of mean over time. Subtests of CERAD: A) z-Scores: BNT; Subtests of BrainProtect: B) BVGT BrainProtect (thinking flexibility); and C) BVGT BrainProtect (logical reasoning) at the pre- and posttest and follow-up 1 after 3 months and follow-up 2 after 12 months for IG and GHC; presented with standard error; mean and standard deviation are presented in Table 2. CERAD, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease; BNT, Boston Naming Test; BVGT, Bundesverband Gedächtnistraining e.V. BrainProtect.
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