Cognitive Reserve, Aging and Dementia: The Reservoir Play and a 25% Dementia Risk Reduction from Brain Training

Overview

Science Friday host Ira Flatow talks with Jake Brash, the Brooklyn-based playwright behind The Reservoir, a semi-autobiographical work that uses cognitive reserve to explore aging, memory loss, and the humor families lean on during difficult times. Brash explains how scientific ideas about brain stimulation and memory loss inspired the plot about sobriety, four aging grandparents, and intergenerational connection. The episode also features Johns Hopkins neurologist Marilyn Albert, who discusses a 20-year randomized study showing speed of processing training lowers dementia risk by 25 percent, how the training works, and whether its benefits hold up in boosters. The conversation touches practical at-home brain training options, lifestyle factors, and the broader implications for protecting memory as we age.

Introduction

Science Friday host Ira Flatow interviews Jake Brash, the Brooklyn-based playwright of The Reservoir, a semi-autobiographical work that uses cognitive reserve to frame aging, memory loss, and family humor. Brash explains how the science of cognitive reserve inspired the story and why intergenerational connection matters in the face of difficult memory challenges.

"Humor is the currency in my Jewish family." - Jake Brash

The Reservoir and the science behind cognitive reserve

Brash describes how the concept of cognitive reserve and the year he spent trying to get sober shaped the play, emphasizing that art can raise questions about what we know and don’t know about dementia and addiction rather than delivering all the answers.

"the science was really what started it." - Jake Brash

Dementia risk reduction through speed of processing training

Johns Hopkins neurologist Marilyn Albert explains the 20-year randomized trial testing speed of processing training and its booster sessions, showing a 25 percent reduction in dementia risk over two decades.

"this was a gold standard study in the sense that people were randomized to different interventions." - Dr Marilyn Albert

From lab to living room: at-home brain training

The host notes that the training can be tried at home, via Double Decision from Posit Science, and that the analysis focused on adults 65 and older, with benefits spanning the age range studied.

"Double Decision is almost identical to what was used in this study." - Dr Marilyn Albert

Takeaways and future directions

Albert discusses the modifiable lifestyle factors that might reduce dementia risk and how further research is needed to understand the mechanisms, while Brash reflects on aging and memory as non-linear processes that resist simple explanations.

"There are lifestyle factors that are modifiable that might reduce your risk for dementia." - Dr Marilyn Albert