Ten-Year Effects of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cognitive Training Trial on Cognition and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults

Rebok (2014) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · Read the paper

The ACTIVE trial randomised 2,832 volunteers, average age 74, to memory, reasoning or speed-of-processing training, or a control group. Training was ten sessions of 60 to 70 minutes over five to six weeks, with booster sessions for some participants. The ten-year follow-up reached 44 per cent of the original sample. Reasoning-trained participants were more likely than controls to perform above baseline on the trained ability (73.6 against 61.7 per cent), as were speed-trained participants (70.7 against 48.8 per cent). Memory training showed no difference. All trained groups reported less difficulty with daily tasks than controls, but standard performance tests of everyday function showed no differences among groups.

The ACTIVE trial randomised 2,832 volunteers, average age 74, to memory, reasoning or speed-of-processing training, or a control group. Training was ten sessions of 60 to 70 minutes over five to six weeks, with booster sessions for some participants. The ten-year follow-up reached 44 per cent of the original sample. Reasoning-trained participants were more likely than controls to perform above baseline on the trained ability (73.6 against 61.7 per cent), as were speed-trained participants (70.7 against 48.8 per cent). Memory training showed no difference. All trained groups reported less difficulty with daily tasks than controls, but standard performance tests of everyday function showed no differences among groups.

Written from the nIH news release on the trial, read 2026-10-23.

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Rebok, G. W., et al. (2014). Ten-Year Effects of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cognitive Training Trial on Cognition and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(1)