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When it comes to studying Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, researchers could save money and reach more participants by using mail, phone and online programs in place of clinic visits.

“Asking someone to answer their phone once a year is much easier than asking them to come in for half a day,” said Dr. Fran Grodstein, Harvard professor and Brigham and Women’s Hospital epidemiologist, at the University of Pennsylvania Jan. 21. Grodstein was participating in the Institute on Aging’s Visiting Scholar Series.

Lumosity creator Lumos Labs will pay $2 million in a settlement over claims it made while advertising its “brain training” program, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced.

The FTC argued that Lumosity customers were tricked into thinking that the program would delay “cognitive impairment associated with age.”

“Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads.”

Alzheimer’s disease has entered the 2016 presidential campaign.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for $2 billion in annual funding for research toward finding a treatment and a cure.

“We owe it to the millions of families who stay up at night worrying about their loved ones afflicted by this terrible disease and facing the hard reality of the long goodbye to make research investments that will prevent, effectively treat and make a cure possible,” the Democratic front-runner said in a statement Tuesday.

A “new era in Alzheimer’s research” kicked off last week with the public unveiling of GeneMatch.

GeneMatch, an extension of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute’s online registry at www.endalznow.org, connects cognitively normal volunteers with research opportunities based on their genotype.

Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, said he has long dreamed of a time that genetics could play a larger role in dementia research, “and that time has come.”

Cognitively normal adults ages 55 to 74 who supply GeneMatch with their information will be sent a cheek swab kit for DNA collection. Researchers can then use this information to match participants to nearby sites with open studies. This is more effective than traditional methods, which require study sites to find their own participants.

Les Wolff stood at the edge of the circle, introduced himself, and threw a punch into the air before him. For the next few minutes, anytime his name was mentioned, a punch was thrown.

It was all part of an improv exercise at the inaugural Cognitive Comedy workshop, presented by the Penn Memory Center. In this particular activity, participants were challenging their memory recalling both the names and unique actions from around the circle.

“For people who are getting older, it’s very important not only to exercise your mind, but to be aware that you’re capable of new things by not just what you’re doing but by watching what others do,” Wolff said.

Joseph and Dorothea Jenkins (right) listen as Penn Memory Center intern Tobi Akindoju presents the results of his research at the University of Pennsylvania last summer.

Joseph Jenkins was skeptical when he heard the Penn Memory Center was conducting research in his neighborhood.

A retired SEPTA employee living in West Philadelphia, he had spent his fair share of time participating in other organizations’ surveys and questionnaires about his community without ever seeing a result.

There was the bus station shelter he wanted to see installed on a nearby street corner.

No action.

Then there was that meeting at White Rock Baptist Church, where city officials made promise after promise about other improvements to the city.

No action.

“They never do anything,” he said. “Every time we have a meeting like this, nothing ever happens.”

The Penn Memory Center is pleased to invite our patients and friends to a new pop-up café at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City. This program is exclusively for people with memory problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, and their partners/families. Hours for this free café will be announced monthly.

“The challenges of living with memory loss can sever social connection at a time when it is needed the most,” said Felicia Greenfield, LCSW. “Memory café gatherings are a way for people with memory loss and their companions to come together to make new friendships.”

The Easton Home’s Memory Kitchen (Screenshot from www.presbyterianseniorliving.com)

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the nation are slowly transitioning to create specialized memory units for their dementia patients.

The idea behind these Memory Lane designs — which sometimes include features such as a cast iron stove or a wood-paneled radio — is “reminiscence as therapy,” according to the Asssociated Press.