U.S. POINTER Study | Alzheimer’s Association
The Kelsey Research Foundation (KRF) was one of five research centers in the country to recruit participants for the U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk (U.S. POINTER). The U.S. POINTER study is a two-year clinical trial to evaluate whether lifestyle interventions protect cognitive function in older adults who are at increased risk for cognitive decline. U.S. POINTER is the first large-scale, randomized controlled clinical trial to demonstrate that an accessible and sustainable healthy lifestyle intervention — a combination of diet, exercise, heart health, and cognitive challenge and social engagement — can protect cognitive function in diverse populations in communities across the United States.
The U.S. POINTER study compared two lifestyle interventions of varying intensity and format. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two interventions. The studies goal was to evaluate whether the cognitive benefits from the self-guided intervention differ from those of the structured intervention. The ultimate hope is to use the information gathered from the study to reduce cognitive decline and protect brain health. The U.S. POINTER population includes people from a wide range of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic backgrounds. Of the 2,111 randomized participants, 31% identify as people of color, and 31% are men. The Houston site recruited a total of 455 participants - 45.4% being participants of color.
KRF was proud to partner with Baylor College of Medicine as well as Alzheimer’s Association of Houston and Southeast Texas on this impactful study.
Study Results
Results from the U.S. POINTER clinical trial found that two lifestyle interventions targeting a combination of physical activity, improving nutrition, cognitive and social challenge, and health monitoring improved cognition in older adults at risk of cognitive decline. While both interventions improved cognition, the cognitive benefits were even greater for participants in the more structured intervention group, helping to protect thinking and memory from the normal decline that often comes with aging over the nearly two-year period of the study. Participants experienced cognitive improvement regardless of sex, ethnicity, genetic risk (apolipoprotein-e4) or heart health status.
“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) on July 28, 2025 and simultaneously presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®).
Key Takeaway
These positive results underscore the message that healthy behavior has a powerful impact on brain health.
Positive, everyday actions can make a difference in brain health, and when combined into a program that targets multiple factors like physical activity, improving nutrition, cognitive and social challenge and health monitoring, we now know it can have an even more powerful impact.
This past summer, KRF was one of ten organizations in the country to be awarded a $100,000 Alzheimer’s Association grant to develop specific strategies for real-world implementation of the U.S. POINTER study. These funds will allow KRF to leverage the latest science of the U.S. POINTER Study Results to explore strategies for real-world implementation that can be sustained and scaled across community and health-care settings.
introducing the POINTER alumni extension study
Building on the success of U.S. POINTER, the POINTER Alumni Extension Study was created to explore the long-term impact of lifestyle interventions on brain health. This phase allows former U.S. POINTER participants to continue engaging in the healthy habits they developed during the study while further examining their sustained effects on cognitive function. The extension study also aims to expand community access to these scientifically supported lifestyle programs, helping more people adopt brain-healthy habits for life. Please contact Arely Perez for more information.
