A study published in July 2022 in Neurology, a journal from the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that eating whole foods might decrease dementia risk. The research was done on 72,083 adults over age 55 with no dementia at baseline in the UK Biobank.
The authors investigated the association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) and dementia, where participants’ diets were evaluated based on how much UPF was consumed. The highest group had a diet of 28% UPF compared to the group with the lowest consumption of UPF at 9%.
The results implied that for every increase of 10% in the daily dietary intake of UPF, the risk of dementia increased by 25%. Conversely, replacing 10% of UPF foods with whole (unprocessed or minimally processed) foods was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia.
“Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet,” said study author Huiping Li, Ph.D. of Tianjin Medical University in China.
“These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to affect thinking and memory skills negatively.”
“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, but it also found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk.”
More: 4 things you can do to fight dementia and improve your memory
UPF vs. whole foods
UPF is made for convenience. Think ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat. These foods are high in sugar, fat, and salt and low in protein and fiber. A few examples of UPF include fatty, sweet, savory, or salty packaged snacks.
Also, baked products made with ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable fat, sugar, yeast, whey, emulsifiers, and other additives, ice creams and frozen desserts, chocolates, candies, pre-prepared meals like pizza and pasta dishes, and distilled alcoholic beverages such as whisky, gin, rum and vodka.
On the other hand, whole foods are unprocessed or minimally processed, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood, legumes, milk, eggs, grains, spices, meat, and fermented alcoholic beverages (think alcoholic cider and wine).
Minimally processed foods leave the nutrients intact. This contains methods like canning, vacuum packing, and refrigeration – which extend the food item’s life, including adding vitamins and pasteurization (as in milk).
How to tell the difference?
Lena Beal, media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says that labeling is the answer.
“Ultra-processed foods involve baked goods, snack cakes, chips, and candy at the grocery store’s check-out counter. They also include soft drinks, sweet breakfast cereals, ice cream, mass-produced bread, and flavored yogurts.”
Beal advises, “Look at two labels: Cheetos and tortilla chips. Then, look at the long list of ingredients on the Cheetos bag compared to tortilla chips. Tortilla chips have corn, salt, and some plant seed oil, right? So, it could be safflower, sunflower, or canola. Three ingredients.”
Related: Want to slow, delay or reverse dementia? Try this classic game.
Why are UPFs so popular in the U.S.?
“Two words: convenience and cost,” says Beal. In the U.S., UPF consumption increased from 53.5% of calories (2001-2002) to 57% (2017-2018). During the same period, whole food consumption decreased from 32.7% to 27.4% of calories.
According to Beal, “Americans eat 31% more packaged food than fresh foods than nearly any other country. Ultra-processed food comes from substances extracted from food through processes like milling or extrusion with added ingredients. They are highly manipulated and take on more of a chemical presence than food.”
The perceived convenience and the cost of UPF play a factor in their popularity. Not to mention advertising. Marketing UPF makes them seem delicious and harmless, but learning to read nutritional labels is essential.
In addition, choosing to eat healthier might entail prepping your meals at home. Why? Because it can be a special time shared with family or a partner as well as a nutritious path to adding more fruits and vegetables (fresh, pre-cut, or flash-frozen) to one’s diet.
When it comes to wholesome go-to’s, “use nuts (full of Omega-3s for heart and brain health), raisins, and dark chocolate to make a trail mix,” suggests Beal. “Seeds, nuts, cut-up fruits, and vegetables are nature’s fast food. Make a smoothie out of fresh fruit and dairy. Use peanut butter on celery sticks.”
Traveling and eating out
Beal suggests asking for condiments and dressings on the side when dining out. For instance, choose a sauce you can see through instead of cream sauce. Also, order baked meat or fish instead of fried, skip the pre-meal bread or eat less of it (whole wheat is also a better alternative to white bread).
Lastly, when traveling, locating a grocery store near where you are staying will make finding whole foods easier than getting all your food from restaurants.
Related: This is now the No. 1 preventable cause of Alzheimer’s in America
The bottom line
Good news! You are in charge of your diet. So each time you choose what to eat or drink, ask yourself: what is the best, minimally processed, healthy choice for nutrition?
Learning to evaluate food labels and ingredients is critical. Begin to prepare food at home and opt for small healthy lifestyle changes to improve how you age and feel your best.
Rebecca Myers, MSN, RN is a freelance health journalist with over 15 years of nursing experience (including critical care, vascular access, and education). Through her writing, Rebecca has a passion for uplifting others and helping them live their healthiest lives. She lives with her husband outside Houston, and they enjoy spending time at the beach together.
Apple Inc. quietly announced upgrades to two of its iPad models Tuesday, through announcements lacking the fanfare of the company’s recent iPhone 14 debut.
Instead of hosting an event to reveal the iPad updates as it did for the iPhone, Apple
AAPL,
+0.94%
simply announced the refreshed devices in a series of press releases. The company is enhancing its iPad Pro with the inclusion of its faster M2 chip and also delivering speed upgrades in its new base-level iPad.
The M2 chip seems to be the biggest change in the new iPad Pro. Apple says the chip has a central processing unit (CPU) that’s up to 15% faster than what was on the prior-generation M1 chip, while the graphics processing unit (GPU) can bring up to 35% faster graphics performance.
Apple suggests the chip will prove helpful to power users, such as “photographers editing massive photo libraries and designers manipulating complex 3D objects.”
The iPad Pro also supports a “hover” feature for the Apple Pencil, which detects the pencil up to 12 millimeters above the display so that users can see a preview of their mark before they touch the screen to draw or write.
The 11-inch iPad Pro will begin at $799 for the Wi-Fi version and $999 for the cellular version, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,099 with just Wi-Fi and $1,299 with the cellular option.
Apple also updated its base iPad model, this time moving the front-facing camera to the landscape edge of the device in what Apple says is a first for any of its iPads.
“Whether users are on a FaceTime call or recording a video for social media, they will always be looking right toward the camera,” Apple said in the release. The camera has a 12-megapixel sensor and a 122-degree field of view.
Apple is putting its A14 Bionic chip in the new base-level iPad, which the company says will bring improvements in CPU and graphics performance. Apple is also moving the Touch ID reader to the top button on the iPad.
The device will come in blue, pink, yellow, and silver color options. The Wi-Fi version starts at $449 and the cellular-connected version begins at $599.
Both refreshed models are currently up for preorder, with availability beginning Oct. 26.
The upgrades come as Apple looks to once again drive growth in the iPad category. The device proved popular during the pandemic as people sought new electronics that would help them work and study from home, but now momentum is harder to come by: Apple posted $7.22 billion in iPad revenue during its June quarter, down from $7.37 billion a year before.
The company refreshed its 4K Apple TV as well on Tuesday, giving a performance boost with the A15 Bionic chip that the company says will make gameplay faster.
a Toronto-based strength and performance coach. But so is exercise. Lifting heavy weights might cause strain, when not done properly. And while a weak core can lead to back pain, so can performing hundreds of sit-ups in the quest for six-pack abs, he says.
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Spinal-biomechanics expert
Stuart McGill,
a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, conducted studies on commonly prescribed abdominal exercises. He found that while many were effective for strengthening the abs, they often caused damage to the spine and lumbar discs.
“Holding planks for upwards of five minutes has become a fun social-media challenge, but really, less is more,” says Mr. Nichol, who has worked with National Hockey League stars including
Tyler Seguin
of the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers captain
Aleksander Barkov.
“As with all exercises, the focus should be on quality versus quantity.”
When you try to hold a plank pose for too long and your form falls apart, you can actually do more harm than good. You might start feeling a pinch in the lower back, he says.
These exercises work to safely strengthen the abdominals and lower back, which make up the body’s core, Mr. Nichol says. Complementing body-weight exercises with resisted-strength exercises challenges the muscles so they grow stronger, he says. But don’t add weight until you have mastered proper technique, he cautions.
The Workout
Side Plank
Why: After studying common abdominal exercises, Dr. McGill found that the side plank provided high activation levels for the abdominals. It also causes the least damage to the lumbar spine, Mr. Nichol says. As a bonus, the side plank trains the muscles along the outside of the body, which are often neglected in exercise programs.
How: Lie on your right side with your legs extended and the foot of the top leg placed in front of the foot of the bottom leg. With your right elbow directly below your right shoulder, engage your abdominal muscles and lift your hips up. At the top of the movement, your torso should be perfectly straight from your head to your hips. Your top hand can rest on your top hip or be raised straight in the air. Hold for six seconds, then lower down. Complete one to two sets of five to 10 repetitions on each side. Try to work your way up to a 10-second hold at the top.
Options: Make it easier by bending your legs to a 90-degree angle and stacking your knees, then lift your hips. For an extra challenge, balance on your bottom hand rather than on your forearm. For a true core burner, lift the top leg during the hold.
Mr. Nichol holds a side plank.
Photo:
Steph Martyniuk for The Wall Street Journal
Front Plank
Why: Front plank hits all of the muscles along the front of the body, specifically the transverse abdominis, which is important for lower-back stability and can be difficult to target in many conventional exercises, Mr. Nichol says. It is a great core-strengthener, with low risk for aggravating the low back when performed properly, he says. The key is focusing on short holds versus attempting a plank marathon.
How: Lie face down with your elbows squeezed tight to the body and your hands placed directly underneath your shoulders. Press through the hands and forearms, contract your quadriceps, and extend through your heels to lift into a high plank. Keep your chin tucked and maintain level hips and a straight spine. Hold for five to 10 seconds. Repeat five to 10 times.
Options: Make it easier by dropping to your knees and keeping a straight line from head through hips to knees. Challenge yourself by breathing only through your nose while performing the exercise.
Mr. Nichol engages his core to hold a front plank.
Photo:
Steph Martyniuk for The Wall Street Journal
Glute Bridge
Why: Although not technically a back exercise, the bridge strengthens your glutes and stretches the hip muscles along the front of the body, such as the psoas. “Weak glutes and tight hips are major contributors to lower-back pain,” Mr. Nichol says. “Strong glutes help to stabilize the pelvis and dissipate some of the load from the lumbar spine when picking up or carrying heavy objects.”
How: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your toes and keep your weight in your heels to work the glutes more. Raise your hips without overextending your lower back. At the top of the movement, contract your glutes. Holdthree to six seconds, then slowly lower. Perform eight to 12 sets.
Option: Many athletes increase the challenge of the glute bridge by loading barbells or dumbbells atop the hips, Mr. Nichol says. He prefers the more spine-friendly single-leg hip thrust.
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Rest your shoulders on an exercise bench or couch. Your arms can extend out or you can bend your elbows to rest your head in your hands. Place your feet flat on the floor, knees bent. A pillow can be put underneath the glutes for padding. Lift your right foot off the ground and bend the right knee to 90 degrees. Contract the left glute as you press through the left foot to drive your hips up to full extension. At the top of the pose, squeeze your glute, then slowly lower the hips to the ground. Don’t let the right foot touch the floor. Perform two to three sets of seven to 10 repetitions on each leg.
Mr. Nichol performs a glute bridge.
Photo:
Steph Martyniuk for The Wall Street Journal
Bird Dog
Why: The bird dog challenges many of the less-glamorous muscles of the back that create stability between the vertebrae of the spine, Mr. Nichol says. “This exercise is much more challenging than it looks when performed properly,” he says.
How: Start on your hands and knees with a flat back. Contract your abdominals as you slowly extend your right arm straight in front of you, in line with your head. Keep your chin tucked. Visualize a glass of water on top of your back and keep your hips level enough so it doesn’t spill. Hold for three to five seconds. Return to start and perform three to five repetitions. Switch sides.
Option: Make it more challenging by simultaneously extending the opposite leg.
Mr. Nichol demonstrates the advanced version of bird dog.
Photo:
Steph Martyniuk for The Wall Street Journal
One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Why: The latissimus dorsi (lats) are huge muscles that take up the majority of our mid- to lower-back area. They connect the arm to the torso and “help stabilize the spine anytime someone is attempting to pull, lift or carry something heavy,” Mr. Nichol says. “This exercise strengthens your lats while also improving your core stability.” Unlike the standard row, it helps to prevent muscular imbalances since it is performed one side at a time.
How: This exercise will require a chair, bench or box for support. Put the dumbbell on the right side of the bench. Place your left knee and left hand firmly on the bench and your right foot on the floor. Find a neutral spine position. Keep your chin tucked and your shoulder blades pulled down and back as you reach down and pick up the dumbbell with the palm of your right hand facing inward. With a very slight arc motion, pull the dumbbell toward the top of your right hip. At the top of the movement, squeeze your back muscles, trying to pull the right shoulder blade back as much as possible. Lower with control, slightly slower than you lifted the weight, following the same slight arc motion. Perform two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions. Switch sides.
Mr. Nichol does a one-arm dumbbell row.
Photo:
Steph Martyniuk for The Wall Street Journal
Pallof Press
Why: This exercise works the glutes, core, back, arms and shoulders. It trains the large and small muscles around the spine to resist rotation, so the next time your dog dashes to the right, you can stay stable, instead of getting tugged along.
How: Loop a resistance band around a stable anchor point at waist height. Kneel in a split stance perpendicular to the anchor point, far enough away to create tension in the band. Interlock the fingers of both hands around the band and keep your hands in contact with your torso at sternum height. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and back, and contract your core muscles as you press the band forward. Aim to keep the hands in line with the knee of the forward leg. Don’t let your torso twist from the resistance. Slowly return the band to your chest. Brace your core tight as you hold your arms in the extended position for five seconds. Perform two to three sets of six to eight repetitions.
Option: This can also be done using a cable machine.
Mr. Nichol uses a resistance band to perform a Pallof press.
A few years from now, in addition to deciding your next vehicle’s make and model, you may have another tough choice: the Google model or the
Apple
AAPL -3.00%
one? Other options may include “car maker generic” and even, I’m spitballing the name here:
Amazon
Prime Edition.
Now that cars, especially electric ones, are becoming something like smartphones on wheels, some of the dynamics that played out in the early days of the mobile industry are playing out in the auto industry. Competition between the two kingpins of the smartphone industry has in the past couple of years gained new momentum, with Google racking up auto-maker partnerships for the automobile-based version of its Android operating system, and Apple teasing plans to expand its software capabilities in the car.
For the car companies involved, which face the nearly impossible challenge of producing software on par with what tech companies offer, working with Silicon Valley can address consumer desires while also staving off competition from companies like Tesla. And yet there is an inherent tension in these partnerships over who controls the user experience and the valuable data produced.
Taken together, these forces mean that every car maker is having to navigate a delicate balance between doing things in-house and signing partnerships that cede control, and potentially some sources of revenue. These choices are leading to a vast and confusing new ecosystem in which “mobile” device refers to the car, and not just the phone. Until now, consumers didn’t need to care about what software was running in their car, but increasingly, they may.
For the average driver, this could mean cars that operate with much more familiar, and functional, software. But it may also extend the limited choice that now exists in the duopoly of smartphone operating systems, with implications for later selling a vehicle, or switching to a different smartphone ecosystem. Imagine car listings that say “60k miles, runs great, supports up to Apple CarOS v 3.1, sorry Android users, get an iPhone already!!”
Google’s head start
To understand what’s happening to the tech that controls our cars, Google’s aggressive moves are a good place to start.
Software increasingly controls most aspects of our cars, from driver-assist systems maintaining the vehicle’s speed and heading on the highway to the code and computers that assure the car comes to a stop when we step on the brakes—or the car does the braking for us.
But the auto-operating system competition so far centers on the infotainment system that shows us everything from maps to movies on the road.
Google and Apple both have systems—called Android Auto and CarPlay—that mirror phone apps on vehicles’ displays.
Google has gone further. In 2017, it announced Android Automotive (yes, the name is very similar), which is an operating system installed in the vehicle itself that controls its built-in infotainment system, rather than just displaying a version of a phone’s screen. Android Automotive is the thing that turns the screens in many new vehicles into what is more or less an Android-powered tablet that runs Android apps customized for cars. Auto makers can also license Google’s own apps and services, like Maps and Assistant, through an arrangement it calls Google Automotive Services, although this is optional.
Android Automotive can do much more than Android Auto, by gathering all sorts of data from other parts of the car, like its speed, battery status, heating and air conditioning, and pretty much anything else an auto maker wants to make available to Google’s software.
Apple’s next-generation CarPlay software will allow drivers to customize the look of instrument clusters on their vehicle in the same way they can change faces on the Apple Watch.
Photo:
Apple
Android Automotive replaces the often less-than-great customized software that car makers have in the past put on their vehicles’ infotainment systems. For example,
Ford’s
widely derided Sync infotainment system started as a partnership with
Microsoft,
until Ford switched to
BlackBerry’s
QNX unit in 2014. Last year, Ford announced it would be switching infotainment-software providers again, this time to Google’s Android Automotive, starting with cars sold next year. In 2020, the first vehicle running Android Automotive went on sale in the U.S.—the Polestar 2, from Volvo’s electric-vehicle unit.
To date, Google has announced partnerships with nearly a dozen auto makers and auto-parts suppliers, including
Stellantis,
Honda,
BMW,
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and General Motors’ GMC and Chevrolet brands. Other auto makers have announced they are using Android Automotive, which is open source, without entering partnerships with Google, including electric-vehicle startups like Lucid Motors.
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What auto makers get out of using Android Automotive is a ready-made operating system for their cars maintained by a company with the resources to continually update that software, taking care of small but important details like staying current with new wireless standards. And what Google gets out of this arrangement is that it makes it easier for the company to offer its services on a wide variety of vehicles, says Haris Ramic, who has led Google’s Android Automotive team since it started in 2015.
This also means more people using Google’s services, like Maps or its Assistant. Nearly everyone who buys one of the hundreds of millions of vehicles that are slated to run Android Automotive will, from the perspective of its user interface and the apps that can run on it, be buying an Android smartphone with wheels.
Apple isn’t standing still
The software transformation of cars is still in its early days, and it’s hard to predict how it will play out. But one possible outcome is that many auto makers will end up offering cars with infotainment systems built by Google or Apple that have little modification by the auto maker, says Kersten Heineke, a Germany-based partner at McKinsey who consults with automotive clients.
Several major auto makters have said they plan to use Qualcomm’s chips in future vehicles.
Photo:
Qualcomm
Apple hasn’t announced an equivalent of Android Automotive—that is, software that auto makers can license to run on their vehicles, whether or not an iPhone is connected to them. And as with all its future plans, the company is very guarded about what it says publicly.
However, a demo of the next generation of its iPhone-mirroring CarPlay software in June at Apple’s developers conference, including renderings of the interface of a future vehicle, points to much deeper, and even perhaps Android Automotive-level integration with cars in the future. Some analysts have taken to calling Apple’s hypothetical future in-vehicle software “CarOS.”
Apple has announced more than a dozen launch partners for the next generation of CarPlay, starting with models that go on sale in 2023, including Volvo, Ford, Honda, Renault, Mercedes and Porsche.
For Apple to license its software to auto makers would be almost unprecedented in the history of the company. Apple has long focused on controlling both hardware and software in its devices. On the other hand, failing to offer something like a CarOS to compete with Android Automotive could put Apple at the mercy of Google in hundreds of millions of automobiles, since Google will control the operating system on which Apple’s CarPlay phone-mirroring software runs. Currently, some Volvo and Polestar vehicles can run Apple’s CarPlay on Android Automotive, but this is a much shallower integration than acting as the actual operating system running parts of the car.
In its June presentation, Apple showed off new CarPlay software taking over the instrument cluster of a vehicle, including gauges like speed, RPM and charge status.
Such displays of instruments and driving-critical systems generally have to be deeply integrated—physically, in terms of the hardware that controls them—into a vehicle to meet international safety standards for vehicles, says Isaac Trefz, a former software engineer at BMW and now product manager at OpenSynergy, which makes software that helps the computers in cars juggle all the different things being asked of them.
It’s likely that Apple has found some kind of compromise with auto makers in which manufacturers build their systems so they can take on some of the work required to make next-generation CarPlay work, according to
Chris Jones,
an automotive-market analyst at Canalys. In any event, the next CarPlay represents a much deeper level of integration than Apple has asked of auto makers in the past, he adds.
While some auto makers might balk at what are likely to be Apple’s strict requirements for how they make next-generation CarPlay available in their vehicles, the sheer weight of customer demand—there are after all close to a billion iPhone users worldwide—has clearly forced some to work with Apple on Apple’s terms, says Mr. Jones.
Here comes everybody
At the same time, many manufacturers are building their own operating systems to control their cars. Volvo is an illustrative case. The company runs Android Automotive on its infotainment centers, and keeps it separate from VolvoCars.OS, the software developed in-house to stitch together all the systems of the vehicle, says David Holecek, director of digital experience at Volvo Cars, which is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding. All of that runs on an assortment of hardware from traditional auto-parts makers, and newer entrants like
Nvidia
and
Qualcomm,
depending on the vehicle make and model, he adds.
Some auto makers, like Lucid, have opted to combine Android Automotive with Amazon’s Alexa assistant. Stellantis, which owns 14 automotive brands, including Jeep, Chrysler, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, uses Android Automotive on some of its vehicles, and in January announced a partnership with Amazon to make a variety of that company’s services available in vehicles.
“The way we think about this is that we want to develop our own software going forward,” says
Yves Bonnefont,
chief software officer at Stellantis. “We decided we want to own our future in terms of software development.” Even so, Stellantis sees partnerships with companies like Amazon—and its use of customized versions of the Android Automotive operating system—as a way to save time and resources, and focus on creating unique software experiences in its vehicles, tailored to the kinds of customers each attracts.
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This hodgepodge of software and systems will remain the norm for some time, says Mr. Heineke of McKinsey. There are just too many safety-critical systems in cars, and too many new features—like in-dash entertainment and ever-more-sophisticated driver assist—for one company to do it all, even if that company is Google, Apple or Amazon. On top of that, no one has any idea what the future of these systems will be in a world in which all three of these companies might be trying to displace the personal car as we know it with robotaxis—courtesy of Google-related Waymo, Amazon-owned Zoox and whatever Apple is working on.
However this plays out, it won’t happen nearly as quickly as the mobile ecosystem battles of yore did, among iOS, Android and Fire Phone—remember that?
“The automotive industry is very conservative,” says Mr. Trefz, a veteran of decades of designing hardware and software-based systems that control cars. “So if someone says, ‘This is going to happen in the next five years,’ it’s probably more like 20.”
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Write to Christopher Mims at christopher.mims@wsj.com
You may be able to prevent or delay dementia with changes in diet and exercise, research has found. Now another possible tool for avoiding dementia is getting researchers’ attention: specially designed videogames.
Companies are marketing a crop of digital games that promise a workout for the brain, with a battery of speed, attention and memory exercises. Researchers are working on them, too. Scientists are studying whether such “brain training” games can help stave off or delay age-related deterioration in the brain.
These games aren’t what people typically think of as videogames or puzzles. In some, players must differentiate and recall sounds, patterns and objects, making snap decisions that grow harder as the games progress. One game gives users a split second to locate two matching butterflies in a swarm before the image disappears.
Many scientists say it’s too early to tell whether the games really can prevent dementia, and question whether they can lead to long-term improvements in memory and daily functioning. But some scientists think the games are promising enough that they’re pouring millions of dollars into studying them.
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Neuroscientists have long recommended traditional games, such as bridge, Sudoku and crossword puzzles, to keep the brain sharp. Crosswords don’t help people process information speedily, though, a skill whose age-related deterioration can progress to dementia.
The newer games, such as one called Double Decision developed by scientists,try to stimulate and speed up neural activity and slow deterioration in brain physiology that occurs with age.
In a healthy brain, myelin,a layer of insulation,keeps nerve fibers taut and densely bundled, says
Chandramallika Basak,
an associate professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. Our myelin frays and unravels with age, interfering with memory and clear thinking, she says.
In recent imaging studies, her team and scientists from the University of Iowa observed that people who played brain training games maintained or increased myelin in some parts of the brain compared with control groups that played other types of games that didn’t require speed or increasing levels of difficulty.
Interest in studying brain-training games has grown since a 2020 report published in the journal Lancet said that as many as 40% of dementia cases could theoretically be prevented or delayed with lifestyle changes, such as adjusting diet and exercise and managing hypertension.
Dementia is marked by age-related losses in memory, attention and thinking speed that are severe enough to interfere with daily living. Alzheimer’s, a neurodegenerative disease, is the most common type of dementia. Women who are 45 years old have a 20% lifetime chance of developing Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Men the same age have a 10% chance.
Cognitive training, which includes anything from computerized exercises to puzzles and bridge, has been identified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine as a promising area of dementia-intervention research. There’s no recommended age to start playing these games. You can find games online or at libraries, community colleges or local chapters of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Brain-training games haven’t been proven to prevent dementia, says the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Studies so far have yielded mixed results on the games’ effectiveness; doubts remain over their ability to produce long-term practical improvements.
Still, the research to date has been encouraging enough—and dementia so prevalent—that scientists are studying the games further. The World Health Organization in 2019 recommended cognitive training for older adults as a way to reduce the risk of dementia even though the science behind it isn’t definitive.
The National Institute on Aging is funding 21 clinical trials to try to learn what types of games might improve factors such as memory and attention and reduce the long-term risk of developing dementia. A series of studies of nearly 3,000 people funded in part by the NIA suggested that the benefits of a course of exercises requiring speedy observations and snap decisions appeared to help older people 10 years later and lower their dementia risk by 29%.
The trainingin the study consisted of 10 initial 60- to 75-minute sessions where people played speed-and-recall games, and eight booster sessions later. The study wasn’t designed at the outset to assess dementia risk, according to
Dana Plude,
a deputy director at the National Institute on Aging. But the results are a key reason for his interest in cognitive training, and the NIA is currently funding a $7 million clinical trial to further test the results.
Brain training games can be fun but frustrating, regardless of your age and mental stamina. Apps generally charge a monthly or annual fee; some offer a training routine that may be personalized.
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CogniFit, one such app, offers online cognitive assessments and brain training for $19.99 a month for its basic 20-game plan and $29.99 for its 60-game premium plan. It suggests users spend 10 to 15 minutes three times a week on nonconsecutive days to increase their cognitive scores.
Double Decision is sold by Posit Science, whose games are offered commercially and have been used in studies funded by the U.S. Defense Department, the NIA and others.
The goal of Double Decision is to progressively increase the amount of visual information a brain can take in and the speed at which it processes the information—capabilities that typically decline with age. Repeated gameplay trains the brain to think and react more quickly, focus better and remember more, says
Michael Merzenich,
chief science officer of Posit Science.
BrainHQ’s Double Decision game forces players to notice and recall details of increasingly complex scenes after they’ve seen them only briefly. The game is designed to improve attention, memory and processing speed.
BrainHQ
Players note and recall the difference between two cars that appear briefly on a computer screen, which takes focused attention.
BrainHQ
Players note and recall the peripheral location of a Route 66 sign and the correct car as both objects appear and disappear. This tests divided attention.
BrainHQ
Players must pick the correct car and location of the Route 66 sign as a herd of cows makes the scene more visually confusing. This requires figure-ground attention.
BrainHQ
Players must identify the correct car and location of the Route 66 sign amid dozens of street signs. This requires selective visual attention – the ability to tune out distractions irrelevant to a task.
BrainHQ
In the exercise, two different cars appear in the middle of a screen with a Route 66 sign floating in the periphery. One of the cars plus the road sign flash onto the screen and then disappear. A player must recall which car they just saw and the location of the road sign. The game speeds up and adds distractions like a herd of cows or dozens of road signs.
“Brain health is manageable,” says Dr. Merzenich. “We should treat brain health as seriously as our physical health.”
Double Decision is designed to improve attention, memory and processing speed by forcing the brain into split-second observations and decisions. Content hosted by BrainHQ
Almost overnight, this 30-year-old has become the tech world’s newest titan — and is poised to become one of the world’s youngest billionaires.
Dylan Field, the co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Figma, is on the cusp of an epic windfall after Adobe
ADBE,
-3.12%
announced plans to acquire his company for $20 billion this week. Field will stay on with Figma (which makes collaborative design tools), and he reportedly owns a a sizable stake in his company. Forbes estimated it at 10%, which means Field could be looking at a $2 billion payday from the deal. (Field declined to provide details of his ownership share with MarketWatch.)
Considered something of an upstart rival to Adobe, Figma describes itself as a “design platform for teams who build products together.” Its distinguishing factor is that it’s cloud-based, which has made its products especially valuable to designers and other workers separated physically from one another during the pandemic — or to those continuing to collaborate in today’s hybrid work environment.
And Adobe clearly saw value in Figma’s model. The acquisition is said to be the largest in Adobe’s history, although some Wall Street analysts have questioned whether it paid too much. (What’s more, Adobe’s shares tumbled toward their worst week since 2002 in light of the news.) But Adobe chief executive Shantanu Narayen advised investors that the deal will “significantly expand our reach and market opportunity.”
Either way, it’s a mighty leap for Field, who started Figma with Evan Wallace, a one-time Brown University classmate, in 2012. As a Wall Street Journal story noted, Field was living in a gritty San Francisco apartment just four years ago, and buying dollar cups of coffee on his way to work.
““I had a very small sip of Champagne last night.” ”
— Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma
On Friday, MarketWatch caught up with Field, who grew up in northern California, to learn more about the Adobe deal — and how it will change his life. Here is some of what he had to say (some comments have been edited for brevity and clarity):
On how Field’s life may change with the payout from Adobe: While Field wouldn’t discuss the specifics of what he’ll earn from the deal, he doesn’t deny he stands to benefit significantly. He says he’s not thinking about much beyond his company and its next chapter. “Right now, I’m just all in on Figma and trying to think about how to make Figma successful, especially in this new context,” he says. In other words, he’s not yet planning on colonizing Mars with his riches a la Elon Musk.
But Field admits he’s still pretty buzzed about the events of the past week. “It’s very cool though, I’m not going to lie,” he says.
On how he celebrated the deal: Field is known to love wine, but he says he hasn’t been drinking much in the last few weeks because he’s been so focused on his work and the deal. Nevertheless, he says, “I had a very small sip of Champagne last night” with the Figma team.
On Figma’s value proposition: Put simply, it’s all about the ability to work together via the cloud. “We’re able to make it collaborative,” says Field of the tools that Figma offers. “So, if you’re a designer and I’m an engineer, no longer do we have to exchange files back and forth… We can make edits together. We can riff off each other’s ideas. That collaboration mattered to a lot of our customers.”
A newer product that Figma offers is FigJam, which Field describes as a “whiteboard solution.” The thought behind it, Field explains, is “that we can help people go from ideation and brainstorming into the design process and all the way to production.”
On why and how the Adobe deal came together: Field notes that when he co-founded the company there was a serious question as to whether the world had enough designers to make Figma a viable entity. “We weren’t sure there’s a big enough market here,” he says. But with the world going ever more digital — and, by extension, tapping increasingly into digital design tools — the design community has flourished, and the need for good design has become ubiquitous. “Every company has to care about design,” he says.
““Adobe’s mission is creativity for all, Figma’s mission has been to make design accessible for all. Those are two sides of the same coin in some ways.””
— Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma
Thus, Adobe’s desire to tap into what Figma offers its customers as a leading-edge digital design platform, Field explains. And not just tap into it, but also help Figma expand its platform through adding different tools and capabilities — not only for the designer audience, but also for the broader creative audience. “That got us really excited, because it accelerates the impact that we already wanted to have, but also scales the impact,” Field says.
On Figma’s image as an “Adobe killer”: Yes, Figma has been described as that. And Field once even tweeted, “Our goal is to be Figma not Adobe.” Field says he still stands by the remark in that the two companies are distinct in certain respects, although he also notes they ultimately share similar goals: “Adobe’s mission is creativity for all; Figma’s mission has been to make design accessible for all. Those are two sides of the same coin in some ways.” He adds that both companies are aligned “around craftsmanship and community” and “there’s so much we can do together.”
On Field’s views about education: Much has been made of the fact that Field didn’t graduate from college — he attended Brown University, but left in his junior year to start his entrepreneurial career (he got accepted for a fellowship program run by financier Peter Thiel). Field says he is not anti-college per se. “I care a lot about learning, and (going to) a university can be a great way to do that in a structured fashion.” But he also says there are other ways to gain knowledge, pointing to online courses that are readily available. As a result, Field finds it hard to fathom that a lot of companies still require college degrees of applicants. “I think they’re missing out on a lot of great talent,” he says.
Hello and welcome to Financial Face-off, a MarketWatch column where we help you weigh financial decisions. Our columnist will give her verdict. Tell us whether you think she’s right in the comments. And please share your suggestions for future Financial Face-off columns.
Apple’s
AAPL,
-1.25%
latest iPhone is out. The iPhone 14 comes in four models: the basic iPhone 14, a “supersized” (Apple’s word) version called the iPhone 14 Plus, and the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The basic starts at $799, the Plus starts at $899, the Pro starts at $999 and the Pro Max starts at $1,099.
All four models boast more advanced front and back cameras and safety features that can detect whether you’ve been in a car crash and help you call 911, even if you’re in an isolated area with limited cell service. The 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus has “the best battery life ever in an iPhone,” the company said.
All told, the iPhone 14 models “have incredible new features that will help our users in meaningful ways,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at Wednesday’s unveiling.
How meaningful those upgrades really are remains to be seen. But there’s no denying that the birth of the iPhone 15 years ago marked the beginning of a new, more intimate relationship between humans and their phones. Some might say that connection has morphed into codependency; people can’t seem to function without their smartphones.
Is now the time to take that relationship to the next level and get a new iPhone?
Why it matters
“I think keeping the price at $799 was a brilliant move on Apple’s part,” said Charles Lindsey, associate professor of Marketing, University at Buffalo School of Management a professor at the University at Buffalo. “By not raising the price, they will not only capture early sales from the Apple innovators/early adopters (who typically buy new versions as soon as possible) but they will also pull in/convert your more mainstream users (who are typically slower to upgrade).”
The iPhone 14 comes in “stunning” colors including deep purple and starlight. Those pretty hues contrast with some gloomy economic data in the U.S.: Record-high inflation has pushed Americans’ cost of living way up, home prices and rents have soared, and credit card debt has piled up as pandemic-related government relief has receded. The labor market remains extremely tight, but some companies have been laying off employees or freezing hiring.
All of that may make consumers skittish about shelling out close to $1,000 on a phone. Which may explain Apple’s decision to keep the base price of the iPhone 14 exactly the same as the starting price for the iPhone 13, unveiled in 2021.
The price isn’t the only thing that didn’t budge.
“The base iPhone 14 model is actually almost identical to the 13,” said Melanie Pinola, a senior writer and editor on the smartphone beat at Consumer Reports.
Based on what Pinola saw at Wednesday’s unveiling, it appears that the iPhone 14 has the same display, processor, overall design and the same battery as the 13. “If you have a 13, I don’t know if I would switch to a 14 this year,” Pinola said. “There are small improvements with the 14, but I wouldn’t say I would rush out right now.”
The most notable change among the iPhone 14 models is the new larger version, the iPhone 14 Plus, with a 6.7-inch display, which is similar in size to the Samsung Galaxy S22, Pinola said. “This is the first time that Apple has ever made a large screen phone under $1,000, so it’s more accessible for people who want a larger phone,” Pinola told MarketWatch.
The verdict
Skip the iPhone 14, unless your existing phone is on life support. “If you’re not able to get security or software updates, it’s definitely time to get a new phone,” Pinola said.
My reasons
Tech companies have trained us to line up for new products on their schedule. But should Apple dictate when you spend money? Maybe that’s how it became one of the world’s most profitable companies. But blindly following Apple’s marching orders is not how you will become the most profitable version of yourself.
Is my verdict best for you?
On the other hand, the fact that Apple kept the starting price the same on the iPhone 14 could make an upgrade easier to swallow, said Philip Michaels, U.S. managing editor at the product review site Tom’s Guide.
“People who bought the iPhone 13 last year are probably still very happy with their phones and will have little reason to upgrade,” Michaels told MarketWatch. “And given Apple’s track record of lengthy software support — iOS 16 works fine on phones released five years ago — it’s easy to hold onto your current iPhone for a long time.”
“That said, if you’ve got an iPhone 11 or earlier, you will definitely notice an improvement in performance, even with the A15 Bionic chip on the iPhone 14 as opposed to the more advanced A16 Bionic powering the Pro models. Cameras figure to produce better results, too, though testing Apple’s new phones will confirm that. Because Apple held the pricing at iPhone 13 levels despite the rumors of price hikes, an upgrade is even easier to justify,” Michaels said.
Another possible incentive to upgrade: deals available through Apple can cut up to $800 off the price tag of the iPhone 14, and major mobile phone carriers including AT&T
T,
-0.45%,
T-Mobile
TMUS,
-0.41%
and Verizon
VZ,
+0.40%,
are offering discounts as well.
If you’re trying to decide whether to upgrade, don’t forget about the value of your existing phone, said Josh Lowitz co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, publisher of the upcoming CIRP-Apple report on Substack.
“Used iPhones have real value, as trade-ins or hand-me-downs to family or friends,” Lowitz said. “Our data shows that about half of new iPhone buyers trade-in or sell their old phone, and more than a third of those who monetize their old phone, report that it was worth more than $300.”
Retail promotions, including enhanced trade-in offers, can reduce the cost of ownership further, he noted.
Another key point: mobile carriers are offering longer payment plans. In the past, phone purchases were generally broken up into 24 or even 18 or 20 payments. Now, 30 and 36 monthly payment plans are common, Lowitz said.
“That reduces the monthly outlay, though it postpones the relief of making that final payment, and the new phone buyer needs to be confident that their phone will serve them that long. Even with the strong residual value of an iPhone, a buyer with 36 payments may have negative equity in their phone into their third year of ownership,” Lowitz said.
Apple shares closed almost 1% up Wednesday after the iPhone 14 event, but they are down 12% year to date. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.30% and the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.33% are down 13.5% and more than 16%, respectively, this year.
See also: Think twice before you trade in your old smartphone or tablet — you could make more money ‘upcycling’ on resale sites
Tell us in the comments which option should win in this Financial Face-off. If you have ideas for future Financial Face-off columns, send me an email.
Learn how to shake up your financial routine at the Best New Ideas in Money Festival on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 in New York. Join Carrie Schwab, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation.
racing to save itself, will reject some of the most fundamental aspects of its decade-old business model.
The once-hot maker of connected fitness equipment posted losses of more than $1.2 billion in the most recent quarter as revenue plunged and the company warned it would spend more cash than it brings in for several more months. Peloton lost $2.8 billion in the year ended June 30, compared with a $189 million loss in the prior year.
Losses come as demand for Peloton’s bikes and treadmills has plunged and the company’s count of people who subscribe to its fitness classes stagnated after growing fourfold since early 2020. The company had about 3 million subscribers to its connected fitness offering at the end of the June quarter.
Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy aims to make Peloton primarily a subscription-based company.
Photo:
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Peloton shares were down nearly 20% in morning trading, as the company posted steeper losses and weaker revenue than analysts had projected. Through Wednesday’s close, its share price was down 88% from a year ago.
“The naysayers will look at our [fourth-quarter] financial performance and see a melting pot of declining revenue, negative gross margin, and deeper operating losses. They will say these threaten the viability of the business,” Chief Executive
Barry McCarthy
said in a letter to shareholders. “But what I see is significant progress driving our comeback and Peloton’s long-term resilience.”
Peloton has long sought out an affluent base of customers with stationary bikes that cost up to $2,500, and has worked to ensure only owners of its equipment are able to connect to its popular workout classes.
Mr. McCarthy, who took over in February, said the company also will court more frugal customers and make its workout classes, often accessed through screens on Peloton equipment, compatible with competitors’ exercise products.
He said the company is also trying to bring more people in through selling equipment and clothes through Amazon.com Inc.’s e-commerce platform to letting people rent bikes through a subscription. Peloton historically has offered two subscription options, one in which courses connect to bikes and treadmills and cheaper options in which classes aren’t connected.
“You never know which initiative is going to get us where we want to go, but I am confident of the cumulative effect,” Mr. McCarthy said in a call with analysts.
The efforts come as Peloton’s finances deteriorate.
Revenue for the June quarter fell to $679 million, a nearly 30% drop from a year ago as declining exercise equipment sales more than offset higher revenue from subscriptions.
Efforts to restructure the company contributed to it burning through $412 million in cash in the latest quarter, after going through $650 million in each of the prior two periods. It ended June with $1.25 billion in cash reserves and a $500 million credit line.
Peloton is taking steps to shore up its finances, from sweeping layoffs to outsourcing manufacturing of its fitness equipment. The company said earlier this month it would cut around 800 jobs in an effort to reduce costs, after announcing in February it would lay off about 2,800 workers. Executives said cost-cutting aims to ensure the company maintains at least $1 billion in available cash.
One of the pandemic’s biggest winners, Peloton has struggled to adapt as Americans revert to prepandemic habits and tighten spending amid inflation near its highest level in decades. Americans are spending less on in-home fitness, from sales of equipment to connected workouts, as they return in droves to gyms and become increasingly cautious about spending available cash amid economic uncertainty.
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Mr. McCarthy’s predecessor, Peloton co-founder
John Foley,
spent hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the company’s manufacturing and supply, betting that demand would hold as the pandemic waned. Along with replacing Mr. Foley, the company earlier this year made changes to its board and said it would cancel plans for a $400 million factory in Ohio.
For the first time, in the most recent quarter, Peloton’s subscription revenues were greater than equipment sales. Mr. McCarthy, who previously worked at
Spotify Technology SA
and
Netflix Inc.
, aims to make Peloton primarily a subscription-based company. Subscriber revenue for the quarter was $383 million; equipment sales were $296 million.
Peloton’s subscriber count rose by just 4,000 in the quarter ended June 30 and the company predicts that the total number of subscribers will remain flat in the current quarter.
It is a big change from the start of 2021, when Peloton’s quarterly revenue peaked at $1.2 billion, and exercise equipment comprised more than 80% of sales.
The company said it expects total revenue between $625 million and $650 million for the current quarter, which ends Sept. 30.
Mr. McCarthy, in his investor letter, likened Peloton to a dangerously tipping cargo ship he was aboard as a high-schooler when the crew managed a dramatic recovery.
“Peloton is like that cargo ship,” he said. “We’ve sounded the alarm for general quarters. Everyone’s at their station.”
confirmed Monday it is laying off roughly 3,000 white-collar and contract employees, marking the latest in its efforts to slash costs as it makes a longer-range transition to electric vehicles.
Ford sent an internal email Monday to employees, saying it would begin notifying affected salaried and agency workers this week of the cuts. The email was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The 1% reduction in Ford’s workforce of about 183,000 mostly targets employees in the U.S., Canada and India. About 2,000 of the targeted cuts will be salaried jobs at the Dearborn, Mich., auto maker. The remaining 1,000 employees are working in contract positions with outside agencies, the company said.
The cuts weren’t unexpected. The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported in July that layoffs were coming for white-collar staff as part of a broader restructuring to sharpen the car company’s focus on electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.
Ford shares closed down 3.9% each on Monday, after news of a $1.7 billion jury verdict in a case involving a rollover accident with one of the company’s F-250 pickup trucks that left two people dead.
The company’s email, signed by Executive Chair
Bill Ford
and Chief Executive
Jim Farley,
said Ford is changing the way it operates and redeploying resources as it embraces new technologies that weren’t previously core to its operations, such as developing advanced software for its vehicles. The job cuts are effective Sept. 1, a spokesman said.
“Building this future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century,” the internal message said.
Mr. Farley has said recently that Ford has too many employees, and that the existing workforce doesn’t have the expertise needed to transition to a portfolio of electric, software-laden vehicles.
He has said he aims to cut $3 billion in annual costs by 2026 as part of his goal to reach a 10% pretax profit margin by then, up from 7.3% last year.
Like many global auto makers, Ford is pouring money into electric vehicles in an effort to close the sales gap with
Tesla Inc.
The company has said it would spend about $50 billion through 2026 to develop EVs, targeting global sales of two million by then.
Mr. Farley earlier this year divided the company into separate divisions, including one to focus on electric vehicles and advanced technologies, and another to handle its traditional internal-combustion-vehicle lines.
He has said profits from its lineup of gasoline and diesel-engine vehicles will help fund the transition, but that part of the business must operate more efficiently.
Supply-chain issues and a shift toward electric vehicles have accelerated changes in the car-buying process. We visit a car dealer to see how consumers and sellers are adapting and what changes might be here to stay. Photo: Adam Falk/The Wall Street Journal
Apple Inc. is expected to unveil its latest line of iPhones and smartwatches on Sept. 7, according to a new report.
Bloomberg News reported Wednesday that the tech giant will update its flagship smartphones amid a busy fall product rollout that includes three new Apple Watch models and multiple new versions of Macs and iPads by year’s end.
But the iPhone 14 launch is by far the biggest deal for Apple. Last quarter, Apple reported $40.67 billion in revenue from iPhone sales, up from $39.57 billion a year prior, and roughly half of the company’s total revenue. That beat analysts’ expectations, defying global supply-chain problems and rising inflation.
The iPhone 14 will reportedly feature a better camera but otherwise fairly minor technological upgrades, and will add a version with a 6.7-inch screen while eliminating the 5.4-inch “mini” version.
Analysts are bullish on Apple’s outlook. Credit Suisse’s Shannon Cross on Wednesday named Apple of of her “top picks,” raising her rating on the stock to outperform from neutral, with a $201 price target, while Wedbush’s Dan Ives told CNBC that demand for Apple products will likely remain strong next year.
Apple shares
AAPL,
+0.88%
closed slightly higher Wednesday, at $174.55, and are down about 2% year to date, following a 24% rally over the past three months. In comparison, the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.72%
is down 10% in 2022, after a 9% gain over the past three months.
