Five Lives Science

Our Research

We conduct in-house research to develop bespoke machine learning tools for assessing cognition and dementia risk, and to keep our product responsive to our users’ needs and backgrounds.

Our first two academic papers describe work done in collaboration with researchers from Tallaght University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and the University of Oxford, UK. We designed an online questionnaire that collected detailed demographic information like age, gender, education and household income from adults aged 50-91 years. The questionnaire also assessed the level of awareness of lifestyle risk factors for dementia, the prevalence of these risk factors, and the barriers that people face in overcoming them.

This extensive research was the basis of two scientific articles published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Our first published study based on this questionnaire was titled "Modifiable risk factors for dementia, and awareness of brain health behaviors: Results from the Five Lives Brain Health Ireland Survey (FLBHIS)".

Overall, the study showed there is still much to be done to raise awareness of modifiable risk factors for dementia. Given that lifestyle changes can prevent or delay up to 40% of dementia cases, we must continue to educate and empower individuals to take control of their brain health.

Our second study, based on the questionnaire data, was titled "Barriers to brain health behaviours: results from the Five Lives Brain Health Ireland Survey".

This study showed that people face unique challenges in improving their lifestyle and brain health, depending on their sex, age, income and education. It highlights the need for personalised public lifestyle interventions for improving brain health.

Graph from second study
This table from the study shows the effect of gender on exposure to barriers to overcoming an unhealthy diet and other risk factors for dementia.
The asterisks signify statistically significant differences.
Together

Our Partners

We partner with the best universities and research organisations to develop innovative and forward-thinking solutions.

40%
of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed