Following the completion of the first wave of Silver Santé Study’s Age-Well clinical trial, the volunteers have agreed to take part in additional follow-up tests at 21 months. This is to further strengthen validation of the trial by studying whether the effects of mental training techniques persist over time.

Over the last 18 months, the group of 42 older adults aged 65+ has been helping our expert researchers learn more about mental health & well-being in the ageing population. After taking part in a series of baseline tests, each volunteer was randomly assigned to one of three groups – an English language course, a meditation course, or a control group in which participants made no changes to their lifestyle.

Volunteers in Wave 2 will undertake their end of intervention visits in May 2019, and the Wave 3 volunteers have recently finished the nine-month visit.

Blood tests, neuroimaging scans and questionnaires have been used by our expert researchers to assess the impact of the mental training techniques on the brain. The volunteers’ lifestyle habits – such as sleep, diet, physical exercise and emotions – have also been monitored.

The results of the Age-Well trial are expected to be released in 2020.

Caption: Age-Well volunteers taking part in an English learning class at the University of Caen, France.