Maladie d’Alzheimer : personnes à risque, interventions cognitives et pratique clinique

Lecture given at the Collège Belgique in Brussels on April 23, 2026, by Sylvie Belleville. ⬇️ Full title: Cognitive Interventions for Individuals at Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: Effectiveness, Mechanisms of Action, and Transfer to Clinical Practice 🔹 Cognitive interventions now play a central role in strategies for optimizing and preventing cognitive decline, particularly in individuals with cognitive complaints or mild cognitive impairment, who are considered at risk of Alzheimer's disease. However, many questions remain: are these approaches truly effective, which profiles benefit most, through what mechanisms do they act, and how can they be realistically integrated into care pathways and the community? This lecture will present the main interventions aimed at supporting memory and attention in older adults and will offer a synthesis of effectiveness data: magnitude of benefits, durability of effects, and degree of transfer beyond the specifically trained tasks. We will then discuss the possible mechanisms of action based on brain imaging data—compensatory functional reorganization, improved brain efficiency, and increased cognitive reserve—in order to better identify the "active ingredients" of these interventions. Finally, we will address the development of more ecologically sound approaches, closer to real life and better adapted to the needs of older adults. We will illustrate how various innovative tools, such as living labs and virtual reality, contribute to designing and deploying more accessible and engaging cognitive programs. 🔸 The first 2026 Quebec Chair at Collège Belgique has been awarded to Sylvie Belleville, Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal, a world-renowned specialist in the study of Alzheimer's disease. Sylvie Belleville received the Prix du Québec Armand-Frappier in 2024, recognizing the excellence of her contributions to scientific research in this field. 🔸 Offering a unique perspective on leading Quebec research, the Quebec Chair has been a highlight of the Collège Belgique's international program since 2018. Each year, recipients of the prestigious "Prix du Québec" give two public lectures and contribute to strengthening high-level scientific exchange between French-speaking Belgium and Quebec. The Chair benefits from the support and cooperation of the Quebec Government Office in Brussels. ▶️ Discover more recordings of the Collège Belgique's 2026 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 2026 ⏩ Discover the program of upcoming lectures at the Collège Belgique: https://academieroyale.be/fr/le-colle...