A new three-year study from researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth (CBH) suggests that getting older does not automatically mean losing mental sharpness. Instead, the findings indicate that brain health and cognitive abilities can continue to improve throughout life.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal, draws on data from The BrainHealth Project (BHP), an initiative launched by CBH in 2020 to better understand how people can strengthen and optimize brain health across the lifespan.
Researchers tracked 3,966 adults ranging in age from 19 to 94. This group represented roughly one-fifth of all BrainHealth Project participants. Over the course of three years, participants completed brief training activities that required only five to 15 minutes per day.
BrainHealth Index Tracks Changes Over Time
To evaluate changes in brain health and performance, the team used the BrainHealth Index (BHI), a patent-pending assessment developed by CBH researchers and first introduced in a 2021 pilot study.
The BHI is designed to detect both improvements and declines in brain health. It measures three primary areas: clarity, emotional balance, and connectedness to people and purpose.
“The BrainHealth Index brings together about 20 metrics, including validated gold-standard measures like the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, as well as tasks designed at the Center for BrainHealth to focus on more complex thinking skills,” said Lori Cook MS’02, PhD’09, CBH director of clinical research and corresponding author of the Scientific Reports study. “This battery of assessments produces insights into individual brain health and change over time. Progress is measured by comparing results with participants’ own earlier scores.”
Cook, who also serves as an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, said the findings challenge common assumptions about aging and cognition.
“Every brain is as unique as a fingerprint and has potential for growth,” Cook said. “This study challenges the prevailing narrative of inevitable cognitive decline, suggesting instead that brain health can be proactively cultivated at any age.”
Brain Improvement Seen Across All Ages
According to the researchers, positive changes were observed even among participants in their 80s, showing that efforts to improve brain health can be beneficial long before symptoms or disease appear and can remain effective later in life.
“For too long, we’ve operated under the outdated notion that we need to wait until something bad happens to our brains before we do anything for them,” said Sandra Bond Chapman PhD’86, senior author of the study, CBH chief director and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair for BrainHealth. “This study reminds us that our brain is not defined by age — it is defined by possibility.”
One of the study’s most notable findings involved participants who started with the lowest BrainHealth Index scores. This group experienced the largest improvements over time.
“Those who are starting at the lowest level appear to have the most opportunity for growth and may be coming in with more preexisting concerns,” Cook said. “As such, they may be more motivated to invest the time needed to see more growth potential. But it is noteworthy that we saw measurable growth even in those entering as high performers.”
Engagement Matters More Than Demographics
The researchers found that engagement was the strongest predictor of improvement. Factors such as age, gender, and education level did not determine whether participants experienced positive change.
However, Cook noted that the study population was not fully representative of the broader public. Most participants were white, female, and college educated.
“We have room to grow when it comes to representation for different demographic groups,” she said. “We’re working hard to increase representation, so we can be even more confident in how this generalizes to the population at large, especially communities typically underrepresented in research.”
Cook, who has worked with Chapman for more than 25 years after beginning as a research assistant, said she values CBH’s combination of clinical research, translational care, and community outreach. She also emphasized the importance of making scientific findings accessible and meaningful to the public.
“One piece that is so near and dear to my heart is helping people link neuroplasticity with self-agency,” she said. “Brain health isn’t just something we strive to maintain; we can actively shape it over time. Research like ours, which provides an objective measure of brain health that people can track over time, can only further boost public awareness.”
Ongoing Brain Imaging Research
The BrainHealth Project continues to collect long-term data through additional studies and follow-up research. As part of that effort, approximately 400 participants from the Dallas area have undergone more than 1,200 brain scans at the Sammons BrainHealth Imaging Center.
“This unique imaging dataset provides an opportunity to look at neural metrics associated with the BHI and gives us the capacity to use periodic brain imaging to explore potential brain mechanisms associated with changes in brain health over time,” Cook said.
Additional authors currently affiliated with CBH include medical science research director Dr. Jane Wigginton, who also serves as co-director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center and chief medical officer of the Texas Biomedical Device Center; Dr. Jeffrey Spence, director of biostatistics; Aaron Tate MA’18, director of emerging technology; Erin Venza MS’13, PhD’25, head of clinical operations; and Zhengsi Chang PhD’22, research scientist.
The study also included contributors from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The BrainHealth Project receives support in part through private philanthropy, including funding from Sammons Enterprises Inc.