ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2009
Evidence for neurocognitive plasticity in at-risk older adults: the experience corps program.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00380562 (Experience Corps Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 108 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Experience Corps Trial: Improving Health of Older Populations Through Generativity
Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers.BMC public health · 2013Pooled it
- Supporting well-being in retirement through meaningful social roles: systematic review of intervention studies.The Milbank quarterly · 2013Pooled it
- Intergenerational Programmes bringing together community dwelling non-familial older adults and children: A Systematic Review.Archives of gerontology and geriatricsPooled it
- Memory support training and lifestyle modifications to promote healthy aging in persons at risk for Alzheimer's disease: a digital application supported intervention (Brain Boosters).BMC geriatrics · 2023Trial
- Using Cognitive Intraindividual Variability to Measure Intervention Effectiveness: Results from the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Trial
- A Community Choir Intervention to Promote Well-Being Among Diverse Older Adults: Results From the Community of Voices Trial.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2020Trial
- Variety of Enriching Early-Life Activities Linked to Late-Life Cognitive Functioning in Urban Community-Dwelling African Americans.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2019Trial
- Impact of the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial on cortical and hippocampal volumes.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2015Trial
- Low-intensity daily walking activity is associated with hippocampal volume in older adults.Hippocampus · 2015Trial
- Cognitive intervention through a training program for picture book reading in community-dwelling older adults: a randomized controlled trial.BMC geriatrics · 2014Trial
- Nutraceutical intervention improves older adults' cognitive functioning.Rejuvenation research · 2014Trial
- Experience Corps: a dual trial to promote the health of older adults and children's academic success.Contemporary clinical trials · 2013Trial
- The Mental Activity and eXercise (MAX) trial: a randomized controlled trial to enhance cognitive function in older adults.JAMA internal medicine · 2013Trial
- Marketing public health through older adult volunteering: Experience Corps as a social marketing intervention.American journal of public health · 2010Trial
- High-Impact Participation? Social Activities, Activity Frequency, and Older Adult Cognition.Journal of aging and health · 2026Article
- The relationship between social interaction patterns and cognitive trajectory in older adult: evidence from ELSA.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Mitigating cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease dementia by enhancing cognitive reserve through neuroplasticity in addition to amyloid-β reduction.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Cognitive training effects in mild cognitive impairment with and without amyloid pathology.Dementia & neuropsychologia · 2026Article
- Modifiable factors associated with cognitive health trajectories among Indigenous, Hispanic, Black, and White older adults: an exploratory longitudinal panel analysis of the health and retirement study with a focus on Indigenous peoples.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- Auditory Training for Everyday Functioning in Later Life.Seminars in hearing · 2025Review
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether Experience Corps (EC), a social service program, would improve age-vulnerable executive functions and increase activity in brain regions in a high-risk group through increased cognitive and physical activity.
methodsEight community-dwelling, older female volunteers and nine matched wait-list controls were recruited to serve in the ongoing EC: Baltimore program in three elementary schools. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) preintervention and postintervention to examine whether EC volunteers improved executive function and showed increased activity in the prefrontal cortex relative to controls. fMRI volunteers were trained and placed with other volunteers 15 h/wk for 6 months during the academic year to assist teachers in kindergarten through third grade to promote children's literacy and academic achievement.
resultsParticipants were African American and had low education, low income, and low Mini-Mental State Examination scores (M = 24), indicative of elevated risk for cognitive impairment. Volunteers exhibited intervention-specific increases in brain activity in the left prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex over the 6-month interval relative to matched controls. Neural gains were matched by behavioral improvements in executive inhibitory ability.
conclusionsUsing fMRI, we demonstrated intervention-specific short-term gains in executive function and in the activity of prefrontal cortical regions in older adults at elevated risk for cognitive impairment. These pilot results provide proof of concept for use-dependent brain plasticity in later life, and, that interventions designed to promote health and function through everyday activity may enhance plasticity in key regions that support executive function.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.