Can brain training techniques help improve mental health and well-being in later life?

THE ‘MAGIC OF MEMORY’ TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT INTERACTIVE ESOF 2018 WORKSHOP

Can keeping your brain active by practising activities such as meditation and learning a language help improve your mental health and well-being in later life?

That’s the question being asked at a ‘magical’ interactive workshop to be held as part of the prestigious science programme at EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Toulouse where delegates will have the chance to try out some of the mental training activities being trialled as part of the EU-funded Silver Santé Study, such as meditation and health education. It will also include a scientific presentation about the project as well as an engaging magic show.

The global population is ageing and as people are living longer, ensuring good mental as well as physical health into later years is becoming ever more important. With the aim of improving the mental health and well-being of our ageing population, the EU has funded The Silver Santé Study – a €7 million research project investigating the impact of mental training techniques through the use of neuroimaging scans, self-reporting, behavioural measures, sleep measures and blood biomarkers.

Dr Géraldine Poisnel, of the Silver Santé Study’s coordinating team at Inserm, France, who will be speaking at the event, said: “ESOF provides a fantastic opportunity to share our work and we are looking forward to welcoming a wide cross-section of delegates to our fun and interactive session where they will get the chance to try out some of the techniques we are trialling in our study and to enjoy a magic show.

“The aim of our project is to study some different techniques which empower individuals to safeguard their own mental health in later life in order to prove (or not) their effectiveness and, in turn, may reduce the cost /care burden on public health services of age-associated diseases and help overcome health inequalities.

“Our study is unique in several ways –it is the first to take into account the emotional dimension of ageing, it is using a complete and unique set of measurements – including neuroimaging scans – to assess our volunteers, and it also has the longest ever meditation intervention.”

By carrying out clinical trials on volunteers aged 60+ presenting with varying health profiles, including patients at memory clinics, the research is measuring the effectiveness of a range of interventions, and hopes to contribute to wider health policy discussions and forward planning around the challenge of caring for our ageing global population, now and in the future.

The five-year study, launched in 2016, involves research partners in France, the UK, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. It is coordinated at Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) by Gaël Chételat in Caen, Normandy, France.

ESOF 2018 (www.esof.eu ), taking place 9-14 July in Toulouse, is the largest interdisciplinary science meeting in Europe. It is dedicated to scientific research and innovation and offers a unique framework for interaction and debate for scientists, innovators, policy makers, business people and the general public. The Silver Santé Study session will take place at 17:00-18:15 on Thursday 12^th July at the Palais des Congrès Pierre Baudis in Toulouse.

For further information about the Silver Santé Study and the project’s ESOF session, visit the project website at www.silversantestudy.eu/ or click here to watch the 3-minute project video.