U.S. POINTER is the largest randomized trial to examine the protective effects of healthy behaviors on brain health. The results were presented at the 2025 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, where one trial participant, Phyllis Jones, 66, from Aurora, Illinois, spoke about her experience. The overall results found that a healthy diet, exercise and social interactions, along with coaching and medical guidance, can improve brain health. 

Jones’ recounted the difficulty of caring for her mother, who lived with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis for 8.5 years before she died. It was painful, she said, not only seeing how much the disease took from her mother in those years but also because Jones remembered how her mother had taken care of her own mother with the same disease years before. 

“I needed to figure out a way to break the generational cycle of dementia in my family,” Jones told Being Patient at the conference of her decision to join the trial.

U.S. POINTER came at a pivotal time in Jones’ life. She had been laid off from her software engineering job shortly before enrolling in the study and was experiencing high levels of stress. 

“You get to the bottom and now there’s no place to go but up,” she said of her mindset at the time. “When I was ready to go up, [one of] the most beautiful things I found [was] the U.S. POINTER study and it has changed my life, “Jones said. “I am forever grateful for everybody that has worked on the research.”

The study, conducted in five locations across the US over two years, sought participants living an inactive life — exercising minimally or not at all, eating a suboptimal diet, and at risk of developing cognitive decline by meeting at least two other risk factors, such as a family history of Alzheimer’s. Participants could not be cognitively impaired.

Jones became a member of the “structured program” of the study, which meant she followed a weekly plan of eight exercise sessions and three computerized cognitive training sessions, in addition to practicing a healthy diet and socially engaging activities. Over two years the structured group attended 38 team meetings with other participants and facilitators of the study. 

In contrast, the trial’s “unstructured program” followed a self-guided approach, in which participants were encouraged to follow healthy behaviors like exercising regularly and eating well, but only attended six team meetings. 

“To me, it was a blessing to get into the structured group,” Jones said. “It felt like they were guiding us, telling us what we needed to do and then teaching us things that we can do as a team.”

Jones said she benefited from the extra support, camaraderie and structure that her group received. “The team was awesome,” she said. “We set goals together. We talked about what was working and what was not working. We got to know each other. Since the program had us all in the same general area, we could actually talk about what’s available at which stores and where you can go for different exercise programs.”

The study was modeled after FINGER, a study focused on lifestyle changes that took place in Finland and was published in 2015. 

Research shows that Black, Latino and Native American populations are more likely than their white counterparts to develop Alzheimer’s, and a key goal of the U.S. POINTER study was to see if the same positive results seen in the FINGER study could be replicated in the U.S., where there is more racial diversity. Of the U.S. POINTER participants, 31 percent were from racial minority groups and over two-thirds of participants were women.

Results presented at AAIC showed that both groups had significantly improved global cognitive scores, and the structured intervention group improved more than the self-guided group.

“Our best estimate is that participants performed cognitively at a level comparable to adults one to two years younger,” lead investigator Laura Baker, PhD, said at AAIC of the structured group relative to the self-guided group. 

For Jones, joining U.S. POINTER sparked an interest in Alzheimer’s advocacy. Jones lost 30 pounds since the study began and now exercises daily. At her new job as a software tester, she feels better able to keep up with messaging chains. At an alumni event after the study ended, a representative of the Alzheimer’s Association urged her to become a community educator. “She saw the passion,” Jones recalled.

Communities of color have historically been underrepresented in Alzheimer’s research, with one reason being lack of access to infrastructure and education surrounding Alzheimer’s. Access to the places that conduct Alzheimer’s research is disproportionately limited in these communities. Jones hopes to change that.

She has presented Alzheimer’s Association talks in various neighborhood settings, including those of historically underrepresented communities. “I get a chance to give this information to people who had not been hearing anything, had not been seeing this information,” Jones said. “It’s been so effective because I’m telling them what this gave to me and they’re feeling the hope.”

U.S. POINTER recently received funding to continue following participants for another four years in the alumni cohort and help communities across the U.S. create locally tailored programs.

“I’m very happy that they’re going to continue to follow us,” Jones said. The trial taught her that she has the power to protect her brain health with positive lifestyle changes. “There is hope — the hope is all in our hands.”