Prevailing wisdom dictates that the brain is similar to any other organ in the body in that it will degrade over time if not exercised. What was not known, though, was just how little exercise it could take to keep the brain firing on all cylinders, even for older folks. As it turns out, the federally sponsored Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study, or ACTIVE, found that senior citizens who took 10 to 12 60 to 75 minute-long classes enjoyed enhanced cognitive benefits for as much as 10 years after the study.

George Rebok, an expert on aging and a professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said: “What we found was pretty astounding. Ten years after the training, there was evidence the effects were durable for the reasoning and the speed training.”

The study examined nearly 3,000 adults with an average age of 74. Five years after taking the cognitive training course, participants showed improved processing speed, memory and reasoning ability over peers who did not participate in the study. Though the memory gains dwindled after the five year mark, processing speed and reasoning indicators remained high.

“The speed-of-processing results are very encouraging,” said study co-author Jonathan King, program director for cognitive aging in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The findings are significant, as a loss of memory, processing power and reasoning ability plays a large role in limiting seniors’ ability to live independently and care for themselves. Though researchers aren’t sure of the exact effect of the exercise on independence, they suspect that even small improvements can make life easier for caregivers.

“If we delay the onset of difficulties in daily activities even by a small amount, that can have major public health implications in terms of helping to curb healthcare costs, delaying entry into institutions and hospitals,” Rebok said.

The training courses for improving cognitive function were not unlike those designed for children with the same objective. Memory exercises included things like memorizing lists, while processing exercises had participants focus on one central object on a screen while identifying items around the periphery. Those exercises in particular, researchers say, could play a big role in improving seniors’ ability to drive safely.

A version of the speed training program developed for the trial is now commercially available through the brain fitness company Posit Science.

Going back to the idea of the brain being trainable like a muscle, the government is interested in this as well: The NIA has released requests for proposals to examine whether or not cognitive training results in physical changes to the brain.