Brain health

Effective, scalable dementia prevention interventions are needed to address modifiable risk factors given global burden of dementia and challenges in developing disease-modifying treatments. A single-blind randomized controlled trial assessed an online multidomain lifestyle intervention to prevent cognitive decline over 3 years. Participants were dementia-free community-dwelling Australians aged 55-77 years with modifiable dementia risk factors. The outcome of this study suggests that these types of interventions could be scalable and may reduce cognitive decline.
Brodaty, H., Chau, T., Heffernan, M., Ginige, J. A., et al. (2025). An online multidomain lifestyle intervention to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Nature medicine, 10.1038/s41591-024-03351-6. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03351-6

The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia provides new hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care. As people live longer, the number of people who live with dementia continues to rise, even as the age-specific incidence decreases in high-income countries, emphasising the need to identify and implement prevention approaches. We have summarised the new research since the 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia, prioritising systematic reviews and meta-analyses and triangulating findings from different studies showing how cognitive and physical reserve develop across the life course and how reducing vascular damage (eg, by reducing smoking and treating high blood pressure) is likely to have contributed to a reduction in age-related dementia incidence. Evidence is increasing and is now stronger than before that tackling the many risk factors for dementia that we modelled previously (ie, less education, hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption [ie, >21 UK units, equivalent to >12 US units], traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution, and social isolation) reduces the risk of developing dementia. In this report, we add the new compelling evidence that untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol are risk factors for dementia.
Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Liu, K. Y., Costafreda, S. G., Geir Selbæk, Suvarna Alladi, Ames, D., Banerjee, S., Burns, A., Brayne, C., Fox, N. C., Ferri, C. P., Gitlin, L. N., Howard, R., Kales, H. C., Kivimäki, M., Larson, E. B., Noeline Nakasujja, Rockwood, K., & Samus, Q. (2024). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01296-0‌

Many determinants are known to affect brain health at different stages of life. The position paper provides a conceptual framework for what brain health is and how brain health can be optimized throughout life with actions across the following clusters of determinants: physical health, healthy environments, safety and security, learning and social connection, and access to quality services.

This working definition of brain health is a foundation for developing policy, practice, research and advocacy. The definition needs to be operationalised through further development of empirical referents, including cross-cultural understanding, adaptation and validation.
Chen, Y., Demnitz, N., Yamamoto, S., Yaffe, K., Lawlor, B. and Leroi, I. (2021), Defining brain health: A concept analysis. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry.

Dementia has become a major public health concern globally. With no cure available and strong evidence for modifiable risk factors, it is imperative that the public are knowledgeable about dementia and to reduce their risk. The aim of this study was to measure the knowledge of dementia and its risk factors in the Australian public, as well as the number and type of information sources used. An online survey promoted through various social media platforms was completed by 596 Australian adults aged 18–78 years (59% aged 18–44 years; 78% female).
Nagel, A. K., Loetscher, T., Smith, A. E., & Keage, H. A. (2021). What do the public really know about dementia and its risk factors? Dementia, 20(7), 2424–2440.

Yongjun Wang and colleagues discuss the definition of brain health and the opportunities and challenges of future research
BMJ 2020;371:m3683

The Healthy Brain Program, an initiative of the Brain Foundation, aims to assist Australians to keep their brains healthy into old age, through the provision of community education and research. The resources page includes puzzle books which can be downloaded for free.

CHeBA is an international centre of excellence in multidisciplinary research into the ageing brain and various aspects of cognitive disorders, including dementia.

A public awareness and engagement campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK. The campaign is designed to build an appreciation among the public – particularly those in their 40s and 50s – about the importance of good brain health, and how taking positive steps can help reduce the risk of dementia later on. Get started by trying the brain health quiz!