Das Einsteigen in ein Spiel half älteren Erwachsenen, ihr Gedächtnis zurückzugewinnen. Untersuchungen ergaben, dass sich nicht nur die Gedächtniswerte verbesserten, sondern MRT -Scans zeigten, dass der Hippocampus und der Thalamus – Hirnregionen normalerweise mit Demenz schrumpfen – tatsächlich das Volumen wuchsen.

In Europe, almost one in 10 people over 70 suffers from dementia, and this figure could even triple by 2050 due to rising life expectancy. Over time, those affected lose everything that makes them who they are, including their memory and their ability to go about their everyday lives. Many also suffer from physical deterioration. In an advanced stage of the disorder, dementia patients generally require comprehensive care.

Now, the first drugs have emerged that can slightly slow down disease progression in the early stages of Alzheimer’s – which is the most common of several different forms of dementia. However, these drugs are not yet authorised in Switzerland and are only relevant to a small group of patients. In recent years, “exergames” emerged as a low-risk alternative or complement treatment to medications. These fitness games combine physical activity with brain-excerses – without any undesired side effects. In 2021, a study involving researchers from ETH had already shown that this kind of training improves not only cognitive but also physical abilities, as well as the quality of life of people with severe dementia

Now, two new ETH studies have shown that training with “exergames” also works in older individuals with mild cognitive impairment – an early stage of dementia. “Not only did game-based training improve the cognitive performance of study participants, but we also measured significant changes in their brains,” explains Patrick Manser, who is now carrying out research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Both studies emerged from his doctoral thesis at ETH Zurich and confirm the findings obtained in 2021.

https://alzres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13195-025-01835-2