“Multidomain intervention is good for the prevention of Alzheimer disease onset, but so many endeavors from the caregiver and also participants need to be performed. For that type of multidomain intervention, to reduce that endeavor, we started to use digital technology like smartphones and smart devices.”
As the global population ages, strategies to support cognitive and physical health in older adults may become increasingly important. Wearable devices may offer a practical approach for monitoring and managing lifestyle factors, although their efficacy in improving health outcomes might need to be further studied. In a 6-month randomized controlled trial, presented at the recently concluded
Led by Tatsuhiro Hisatsune, PhD, participants in the study were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention, which included automated alerts and optional nutritional tracking, or usual care without wearable devices. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and physical function was evaluated using the Fried frailty phenotype. Overall, findings showed that participants who received personalized notifications demonstrated greater improvements in cognitive scores (MoCA change, 1.0 vs 0.2; P = .011) and frailty status (−0.3 vs −0.1; P = .029) compared with the control group. Above all, these results suggested that multifaceted, wearable device–based interventions may support cognitive function in older adults with frailty.
At the 2025 CTAD Conference, NeurologyLive® spoke with senior author Hisatsune, an associate professor in the Department of Integrated Biosciences at The University of Tokyo, who noted the burden that lifestyle intervention programs may have on caregivers and patients. To address this, he explained that his team leveraged digital technologies, including smartphones, smartwatches, and Fitbit-derived data, to monitor physical activity and sleep. He also discussed preclinical research on anserine, a dietary compound in chicken and fish, that may reduce neural inflammation and support cognitive function. Furthermore, Hisatsune emphasized the need to adapt and study these multidomain interventions across different populations, particularly countries outside of Japan.