PrecisePrevent
Prevention of brain decline: generic and individual factors influencing benefit from nutrition, physical and mental activity and lifestyle interventions. Digital lifestyle intervention to promote brain health in European adult cohorts.
General
The PrecisePrevent project focuses on implementing a digital, multimodal, and individualized lifestyle intervention designed to foster resilience and reduce the risk of dementia. Our goal is to identify who benefits most and which personalized, achievable lifestyle changes give meaningful cognitive gains — small efforts that add up to big benefits for individuals and society.
Background and aims
Population ageing is a major public health success, but it also brings important health and socioeconomic challenges. Neurological disorders, especially dementias, are now the second leading cause of death and the primary cause of disability worldwide, with an economic burden expected to exceed 50% of total disability-related costs by 2050.
The main objective of PrecisePrevent is to evaluate a technology-based, multimodal lifestyle intervention delivered via de Brain Health Coaching App (BHCA) (developed at the Guttman Institute, Barcelona) in improving adherence to healthy habits. Secondary objectives include assessing changes in lifestyle-related factors, psychological wellbeing and cognitive and brain health, as well as engagement with and acceptability of the digital tool and comparison across four European sites (Spain, Norway, France, Germany).
Study participants
We are looking for adults aged 45 to 85 willing to participate in a study to improve their lifestyle. Participation requires performing weekly health related activities (either via an App or without an App, depending on the assigned group) and completing baseline and post intervention assessment (blood tests, MRI scans and cognitive /lifestyle questionnaires).
Course of the study
Participants in the active group follow a 6-month personalized, automated plan via the Brain Health Coaching App (BHCA). The program is delivered as “pills” — weekly doses of advice or tasks targeting specific lifestyle domains such as sleep, cognition, exercise, socialization, vital planning, and nutrition. Participants in the control group follow standard health advice.
Blood biomarkers, brain health (3T MRI), cognitive performance (memory, executive functions, and general cognition), and adherence outcomes are assessed at baseline and after the intervention. At each site, participants are randomly assigned to either the active or control group.
You can also find all the information in this flyer.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. med Emrah Düzel
Start of the study: May 2026
Status: in preparation
Study coordination / Project management (DZNE):
Dr. Lucía Penalba Sánchez
Lucia.PenalbaSanchez(at)dzne.de
Consortium (study sites)
| Kristine Beate Walhovd (PI and consortium coordinator) | University of Oslo, department of psychology, Oslo |
| Emrah Düzel (PI) | Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e.V. (DZNE), Magdeburg |
| Gael Chetelat (PI) | National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Caen |
| Javier Solana Sánchez (PI) | Guttman Institute, Barcelona |
| Antoni Sisó Almirall (PI) | The Clinic Foundation for Biomedical Research-August Pi Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (FRCB-IDIBAPS), Barcelona |