TORONTO – The Alzheimer’s Association U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention (U.S. POINTER) tested two different lifestyle interventions in a representative population of older adults at risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Both interventions improved cognition in older adults at risk of cognitive decline.

Trial participants in the structured (STR) intervention showed greater improvement on global cognition compared to the self-guided (SG) intervention, protecting cognition from normal age-related decline for up to two years.

Results were reported for the first time today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2025 in Toronto and online. “Effects Of Structured vs Self-Guided Multidomain Lifestyle Interventions for Global Cognitive Function: The U.S. POINTER Randomized Clinical Trial,” was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) simultaneously with the report at AAIC 2025.

U.S. POINTER is the first large-scale, randomized controlled clinical trial to demonstrate that an accessible and sustainable healthy lifestyle intervention can protect cognitive function in diverse populations in communities across the United States.

“As the burden of dementia grows world-wide, U.S. POINTER affirms a vital public health message: healthy behavior has a powerful impact on brain health,” said Joanne Pike, DrPH, Alzheimer’s Association president and CEO.

“This is a critical public health opportunity. The intervention was effective across a broad, representative group — regardless of sex, ethnicity, APOE genetic risk, or heart health status — demonstrating its applicability and scalability for communities across the country,” said Pike. “The positive results of U.S. POINTER encourage us to look at the potential for a combination of a lifestyle program and drug treatment as the next frontier in our fight against cognitive decline and possibly dementia.”