A McGill University-led clinical trial is the first in humans to show online brain training exercises can improve brain networks affecting learning and memory.

The study found 10 weeks’ use of the game-like app BrainHQ by older adults enhanced cholinergic function, a chemical system in the brain that typically declines with age and influences attention, memory and decision-making.

A new international study led by University of Galway has found that entering menopause at an earlier age is associated with an increased risk of dementia.

The research also showed that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause appears to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia.

The findings have been published today in the Journal for Alzheimer’s Disease.

The research team from University of Galway and Boston University carried out the study with 1,329 cognitively healthy women from The Framingham Heart Study - the world’s longest running longitudinal cohort study - to analyse the association between reproductive factors and markers of brain aging.