Mental strategy training may quiet a key brain region linked to Alzheimer's risk
NCT ID NCT07718945
First seen Jul 22, 2026 · Last updated Jul 23, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This trial tests whether mental strategy training can reduce overactivity in the hippocampus — a brain region that often becomes hyperactive in early Alzheimer's — and improve memory in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Participants aged 60–80 with MCI will practice four mental strategies (imagination, bodily perception, active thinking, and visual perception) during 2, 4, or 6 group sessions. Brain activity and memory are measured with fMRI and a pattern separation task before, during, and after training.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- mental strategy training (imagination, bodily perception, active thinking, visual perception)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-drug way to slow memory decline in people at high risk for Alzheimer's disease.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial with only 55 participants. The training may not reduce brain activity enough to improve memory, and benefits might not last.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
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Locations
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Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern
Bern, Canton of Bern, 3000, Switzerland
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