Listening Part 4 You hear part of a podcast in which two psychologists called Yasmin Azar and Artem Shevchenko are discussing brain health in older adults. You will hear the discussion twice. Choose the correct answers. You have one minute to read through the questions below. I'm talking to the psychologists Yasmin Azar and Artem Shoshenko about the impact of psychology on our understanding of brain health in older adults. Yasmin, we're developing new therapies that can help prevent, identify, and manage cognitive decline. Why now? There's a growing need for science-based therapies to help slow, prevent, and treat cognitive changes that affect people's brains as they age. Geropsychologists, who specialize in treating older adults, are in short supply. The USA alone will need several thousand more of these highly skilled professionals over the next few years, but it's a gap that's unlikely to be filled there or anywhere else. So researchers are developing therapies to deal with mild cognitive decline and other age-related brain symptoms. Increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with conditions related to cognitive decline, not only because of aging populations but also due to lifestyle factors. I see. Now, what's known as slow-paced breathing exercises could dramatically improve quality of life as people age. Is that right, Artem? Well, older adults tend to react more strongly to stress, and that's linked to cognitive decline. We want to help such people deal with stress, and engaging in slow-paced breathing can achieve this by potentially preventing stress from negatively impacting the brain. One clinical trial indicated that someone practicing slow breathing had lower rates of anxiety and depression with fewer indications of cognitive decline. Researchers aren't certain why. But should the technique slow the early stages of decline in adults that are still cognitively healthy, this could be the key to a low-cost, low-risk way to reduce the likelihood of disease. Right. And what about smartphone training? That's a fascinating research area. As technology advances, so does evidence that using it effectively helps people cope with the impact of cognitive decline. In one study, people with mild symptoms, who often find it a challenge to remember to do things, were trained to use smartphones. Participants in the study were helped to set appointment reminders as a way to improve quality of life. Spouses, younger relatives and hired nurses alike reported that participants had improved independent functioning during the trial. People from what are termed digitally disadvantaged backgrounds are the focus of a second study. These are people living in rural areas without access to the internet or computers. How well will such training work for those completely unfamiliar with the technology? I'm looking forward to the results. What about brain training apps? Can they help people stave off cognitive decline? They promise everything from improving problem-solving capabilities to mental agility. All people need do is find a few minutes each day to solve puzzles and maths equations. That's the idea, at least. Right. Many brain training developers say their products are backed by the latest psychological research, and people find those assertions compelling. Users believe apps help their thinking, attention, and memory, but it's largely self-reported. Personally, I find them frustrating and a waste of time when I can't win. But do they really have any desirable effect on the brain? The jury's still out. But there are likely better ways to improve cognitive function. I read that one neuroscience center designed a specific type of game. Yes, the center's founder sees technology as a form of medicine for cognitive decline. He says there are no perfect drugs. There's always people that don't respond. And then there's the side effects. The goal is to create effective technologies and validate them. and he focuses on creating and studying therapeutic tablet-based and virtual reality games that improve attention ability. He hopes to eventually scale games so medical providers can prescribe them, or patients can use them over the counter in tandem with psychological treatment. He hopes that in time, we'll have a set of technological tools to complement standard approaches. Sounds great. What's the future for research into cognitive decline? Well, games help preserve cognition, but some people may benefit more from non-gamified tasks. It may be overwhelming seeing all these things happening on screen. That's when a game isn't helpful. What might be is understanding how cognition, lifestyle, cultural experiences, and overall health affect how people interact with different therapies. And work's begun on this that'll enable psychologists to better predict the most useful individual treatments. And digital assessments that evaluate focused attention and working memory will help clinicians collect more useful data on individuals. Things are looking positive. We're looking forward to fine tuning and scaling up therapies. so that more people can access resources that benefit brain function before cognitive decline begins. I'm talking to the psychologists Yasmin Azar and Artem Shoshenko about the impact of psychology on our understanding of brain health in older adults. Yasmin, we're developing new therapies that can help prevent identify and manage cognitive decline. Why now? There's a growing need for science-based therapies to help slow, prevent and treat cognitive changes that affect people's brains as they age. Geropsychologists, who specialize in treating older adults, are in short supply. The USA alone will need several thousand more of these highly skilled professionals over the next few years. But it's a gap that's unlikely to be filled there or anywhere else. So researchers are developing therapies to deal with mild cognitive decline and other age-related brain symptoms. Increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with conditions related to cognitive decline, not only because of aging populations, but also due to lifestyle factors. Hmm, I see. Now what's known as slow-paced breathing exercises could dramatically improve quality of life as people age. Is that right, Artem? Well, older adults tend to react more strongly to stress, and that's linked to cognitive decline. We want to help such people deal with stress, and engaging in slow-paced breathing can achieve this by potentially preventing stress from negatively impacting the brain. One clinical trial indicated that someone practicing slow breathing had lower rates of anxiety and depression, with fewer indications of cognitive decline. Researchers aren't certain why. But should the technique slow the early stages of decline in adults that are still cognitively healthy, this could be the key to a low-cost, low-risk way to reduce the likelihood of disease. Right. And what about smartphone training? That's a fascinating research area. As technology advances, so does evidence that using it effectively helps people cope with the impact of cognitive decline. In one study, people with mild symptoms, who often find it a challenge to remember to do things, were trained to use smartphones. Participants in the study were helped to set appointment reminders as a way to improve quality of life. Spouses, younger relatives and hired nurses alike reported that participants had improved independent functioning during the trial. People from what are termed digitally disadvantaged backgrounds are the focus of a second study. These are people living in rural areas without access to the internet or computers. How well will such training work for those completely unfamiliar with the technology? I'm looking forward to the results. Hmm. What about brain training apps? Can they help people stave off cognitive decline? They promise everything from improving problem-solving capabilities to mental agility. All people need do is find a few minutes each day to solve puzzles and maths equations. That's the idea, at least. Right. Many brain training developers say their products are backed by the latest psychological research, and people find those assertions compelling. Users believe apps help their thinking, attention, and memory, but it's largely self-reported. Personally, I find them frustrating and a waste of time when I can't win. But do they really have any desirable effect on the brain? The jury's still out. But there are likely better ways to improve cognitive function. I read that one neuroscience centers designed a specific type of game. Yes, the center's founder sees technology as a form of medicine for cognitive decline. He says there are no perfect drugs. There's always people that don't respond. And then there's the side effects. goal is to create effective technologies and validate them, and he focuses on creating and studying therapeutic tablet-based and virtual reality games that improve attention ability. He hopes to eventually scale games so medical providers can prescribe them or patients can use them over the counter in tandem with psychological treatment. He hopes that in time We'll have a set of technological tools to complement standard approaches. Sounds great. What's the future for research into cognitive decline? Well, games help preserve cognition, but some people may benefit more from non-gamified tasks. It may be overwhelming seeing all these things happening on screen. That's when a game isn't helpful. What might be is understanding how cognition, lifestyle, cultural experiences, and overall health affect how people interact with different therapies. And work's begun on this that'll enable psychologists to better predict the most useful individual treatments. And digital assessments that evaluate focused attention and working memory will help clinicians collect more useful data on individuals. Things are looking positive. We're looking forward to fine-tuning and scaling up therapies so that more people can access resources that benefit brain function before cognitive decline begins.