Both Silver Santé clinical trials – Age Well and SCD Well – are progressing well and running on schedule.

Age Well, coordinated in Caen, France, is assessing the impact of various mental training techniques on healthy adults aged 65 plus as well as expert meditators. It has just completed its third and final wave of volunteer recruitment.

The SCD Well trial – taking place in the UK, Spain, France and Germany – is assessing the impact of mental training techniques on patients with subjective cognitive decline. Around 140 volunteers have now been recruited to take part in the trial.

In both trials, researchers are also investigating lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet and emotions to assess the role they play in maintaining good mental health and wellbeing as we age.

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Age Well volunteers taking part in a language lesson.

An exciting new video has been produced showcasing the Silver Santé Study’s work and research team.

The 3-minute long film – which features Project Coordinator Dr Gaël Chételat, some of our senior researchers, and Sujata Ray of Age UK – highlights the impact of poor mental health in later life and the difference that the Silver Santé Study aims to make to the lives of individuals as well as to Society as a whole.

Charlotte Reid, who managed production of the video on behalf of project partner Minerva Communications, said: “As an EU-funded project, it’s important that we keep EU citizens informed about our work and this short film is an easy and accessible way for people to find out what our project is about and how they personally may benefit from what is learned.”

“As well as posting the video on our website via YouTube, we will also be sharing it on social media so please help us spread the word by ‘liking’ and ‘sharing’ it as much as possible.”

 

To watch the video visit our YouTube Channel and to keep up to date with the latest on the Silver Santé Study sign up to our e-newsletter.

The Silver Santé Study has been featured in a high-profile French national TV news programme.

The TF1 programme, called ‘Le journal de 20h’, showed the work of the Silver Santé team at Cyceron and included an interview with Project Coordinator Dr Gaël Chételat in which she described the work being carried out by the project.

Dr Chételat said: “It was great to get the opportunity to highlight the work of the Silver Santé Study on such a high-profile television programme.”

“We are looking forward to sharing more about the project and its results once our clinical trials are completed and all the data has been analysed. Our aim, of course, is to learn more about what we can do to safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of the ageing population.”

The show was broadcast on 19^th February on TF1.

The neuroimaging team at Cyceron were featured in the TF1 programme ’Le journal de 20h’.

Silver Santé Study partners from each of the project’s work packages have come together to share progress on their work as part of the study’s annual meeting.

The conference, which took place in Barcelona in November 2017, provided an opportunity for all the study’s partners to update each other on the progress of their individual areas of research and to discuss various aspects in close detail during workshops.

Project Coordinator Dr Gaël Chételat, says: “Our annual consortium meeting provides a great opportunity for the whole consortium to get together to share progress, discuss our research and to work on specific areas in teams.

“I’m pleased to say that the project is on track and there are encouraging signs that we will have some very interesting results at the conclusion of the project in 2021.”

The Silver Santé Study is the first multi-disciplinary research project to examine the impact of mental training techniques – such as meditation and learning a language – on the brain with a view to improving the mental health and well-being of people in later life. It is also exploring the effects of certain lifestyle factors, including sleep quality, emotions, diet and physical activity, on our mental health as we age.

It is coordinated from Inserm in Caen, France, and brings together ten partners in six European countries (France, Switzerland, England, Germany, Belgium and Spain). The first results should be known in 2019.

 

Pilot study shows meditation may help cut Alzheimer’s risk

 

The findings of a new pilot study led by Silver Santé Study researchers suggests that lifelong meditation practice may help reduce age-related brain changes and cut the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, which has been published in Scientific Reports, used brain imaging techniques Magnetic Resonance Imaging (to measure brain structure) and Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography (to measure brain function) in six elderly expert meditators and 67 non-meditators and showed that the meditators had fewer signs of age-related brain (and cognitive) decline than the elderly people who did not meditate.

Ageing is linked with a variety of changes in the brain that contribute to cognitive decline in older adults and it is increasingly acknowledged that  lifestyle factors, such as stress or sleep problems may exacerbate this and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Meditation practice, aimed at stress reduction and emotion regulation, is thought to reduce these adverse factors.

Silver Santé Study Project Coordinator, Dr Gaël Chételat, led this pilot study in collaboration with Dr Antoine Lutz, and the contribution of other members of the team including Dr Eider Arenaza-Urquijo, Dr Géraldine Poisnel – all from INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherché médicale).

Dr Chételat said: “The results from this small pilot study are very exciting and directly relevant to the Silver Santé Study.

“Seeing the differences meditation can have on brain structure and function shows great promise for improving brain function in later life and  reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s. If these results can be replicated by our own clinical trials with much larger cohorts it could be hugely beneficial to society in terms of improving mental health in later life.”

The Silver Santé Study is an EU-funded project investigating the effectiveness of a variety of interventions on healthy ageing, with a key focus on mental health and well-being including Alzheimer’s disease and its mechanisms. Researchers involved in the project are conducting clinical trials involving patients with existing subjective cognitive decline, expert meditators and participants from the general public over the age of 65.

For further information about the pilot study go to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5578985/

 

Memory clinic patients recruited for next phase of four-centre clinical trial

 

The Silver Santé Study’s second clinical trial – which is investigating the impact of mental training techniques on the health and well-being of patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) – has now completed its first round of interventions and work is underway to recruit new volunteers for its second wave starting late 2017/early 2018.

The trial – which is taking place simultaneously at memory clinics in the UK, France, Germany and Spain – is assessing the effects of short-term interventions, such as learning healthy lifestyle habits or meditation, involving around 160 patients. Behavioural measures will be monitored to see how much of a difference can be made to participants’ well-being due to an intervention.

Play a vital role in improving mental health, urge Silver Santé team

 

A series of five public meetings are taking place in the Caen area of France this autumn to attract new volunteers to take part in Wave 3 of the Silver Santé Study’s Age Well clinical trial.

People aged 65 and over and living in the region are invited to come along to one of the meetings to find out how they can play an important role in helping scientists discover more about improving mental health in later life.

Those who take part in the trial will each join one of three study groups, undergo tests and complete questionnaires at regular intervals to assess the effects of various cognitive activities.

“If you’re aged 65 or over, healthy, and living in the Caen area, you could play a vital role in helping us learn more about what can be done to improve mental health in later life,” said project coordinator Dr Gaël Chételat.

“As people are now living longer, it’s more important than ever that we find ways to ensure that our brains remain healthy in later life and that’s what the Silver Santé Study aims to do.”

For further information about the Age Well clinical trial and the volunteer recruitment events visit our French language website www.silversantestudy.fr

Trial investigating benefits of mental training techniques on memory clinic patients well underway

 

A clinical trial investigating the impact of mental training techniques on the health and well-being of patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is now well underway with interventions already taking place.

The trial – which is taking place simultaneously at memory clinics in the UK, France, Germany and Spain – is assessing the effects of short-term interventions, such as learning healthy lifestyle habits or meditation, on around 160 patients. Behavioural measures will be monitored to see how much of a difference can be made to participants’ well-being due to an intervention.  Each site is now beginning to recruit participants for the next phase of the trial.

Further clinical trials are taking place with expert meditators and older-adult volunteers (recruited from the general population in Caen, France) who are also taking part in various cognitive activities.