Cognitive Health

Research summary

• This topic has unusually strong randomized-trial evidence for a behavioral field: the landmark FINGER trial (Lancet, 2015) showed a 2-year multidomain intervention combining diet, exercise, cognitive training and vascular risk management improved cognitive function in at-risk older adults, with benefit holding regardless of baseline characteristics, and this has now been extended by the large US POINTER randomized trial (JAMA, 2025) comparing structured and self-guided versions of the same approach.
• Supporting meta-analyses show combined physical-and-cognitive training and computerized cognitive training both benefit people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia, and that exercise dose and type matter for cognitive benefit.
• Observational research on cognitive reserve adds a complementary picture: meta-analyses link more education, cognitively engaging leisure activities, and bilingualism to lower dementia risk, consistent with the idea that both active intervention and lifestyle accumulate to protect cognition.
• The combination of large multidomain RCTs and consistent observational reserve literature makes this a comparatively well-evidenced topic.