A new three-year study from researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas' Center for BrainHealth (CBH) suggests that getting older does not automatically mean losing mental sharpness. Instead, the findings indicate that brain health and cognitive abilities can continue to improve throughout life.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal, draws on data from The BrainHealth Project (BHP), an initiative launched by CBH in 2020 to better understand how people can strengthen and optimize brain health across the lifespan.

Researchers tracked 3,966 adults ranging in age from 19 to 94. This group represented roughly one-fifth of all BrainHealth Project participants. Over the course of three years, participants completed brief training activities that required only five to 15 minutes per day.

BrainHealth Index Tracks Changes Over Time

To evaluate changes in brain health and performance, the team used the BrainHealth Index (BHI), a patent-pending assessment developed by CBH researchers and first introduced in a 2021 pilot study.