Many believe that they cannot change their brain, or that their brain health declines as they age. But the training protocol for advanced memory reasoning (SMART) techniques, created by researchers and clinicians at the Center for BrainHealth®, have been demonstrated over the past two decades to improve mental activity and psychological well-being. developed in laboratory participants.
Recent research suggests that SMART can even make long-term improvements to people’s brain health when delivered outside of the lab in short, informal training sessions.
A paper detailing these findings has recently been published Military Medicine. The research was a collaboration between Leanne R. Young, PhD, of Applied Research Associates, Inc. and researchers from the Center for BrainHealth, led by Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, founder and lead director, and Jennifer Zientz, MS, CCC / SLP, head of clinical services.
Participants included 74 police officers and 425 veterans, investors, members of the National Guard and active soldiers. First responders are as uncertain and stressed as they are every day at their jobs and have challenging, invisible timetables, so SMART – usually delivered for laboratory participants over a 12-week period – according to their schedules.
The researchers wanted to test whether shorter workshops outside the lab could have a similar effect on participants’ brain health. Trained clinicians delivered between six and ten hours of SMART over two to three days.
As expected, participants’ mental activity improved after SMART; for example, both police officers and military personnel showed an average 20% improvement in innovative thinking skills.
Surprisingly, SMART developed participants’ unified reasoning abilities by about 20% if they were armed personnel, but not if they were police officers. And SMART developed participants’ strategic attention by about 16% if they were police officers, but not if they were members of the military or veterans. These differences in how SMART affects participants’ mental work may be due to differences in tasks.
Our brains are very much driven by our own experiences, and it’s how you use your brain that makes you good at certain things. “
Jennifer Zientz, MS, CCC / SLP, Head of Clinical Services
However, the results suggest that different SMART delivery methods can have a positive effect on people’s brain health. “Even in training that doesn’t take too long, people can learn information, apply the knowledge to their daily lives, and see a positive benefit from it,” she continued.
SMART empowered the participants to take control of their own brain health, including their psychological well-being. Four months after training, military personnel reported reduced stress and depressive symptoms, as well as increased satisfaction and flexibility in their lives. This suggests that SMART can achieve lasting results when implemented in short programs outside of the laboratory.
Young believes that SMART could even help save lives. “With rising suicide rates, both in civilian and military numbers, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the study is the impact of mental training on psychological health. I look forward to sees this work continue as the military builds its arsenal of weapons against anxiety, stress and depression, “Young said.
Source:
Magazine Reference:
Young, LR, et al. (2021) Effectiveness of Cognitive Training When Translating from the Lab to the Real World. Military Medicine. doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usaa501.