Abstract
Objective: To test the hypothesis that late-life participation in mentally stimulating activities affects subsequent cognitive health. Methods: Analyses are based on 1,076 older persons without dementia at study onset participating in a longitudinal cohort study. They completed annual clinical evaluations for a mean of 4.9 years. Each evaluation included administration of a self-report scale about participation in mentally stimulating activities and a battery of cognitive performance tests. Previously established measures of cognitively stimulating activity and cognitive function were derived. We assessed the temporal sequence of activity changes in relation to functional changes in a series of cross-lagged panel models adjusted for age, sex, and education. Results: During the observation period, cognitive activity participation (estimate of mean annual change=-0.066, SE = 0.005, p < 0.001) and cognitive functioning (estimate=-0.077, SE = 0.005, p < 0.001) declined at rates that were moderately correlated (r = 0.44, p < 0.001). The level of cognitive activity in a given year predicted the level of global cognitive function in the following year, but the level of global cognition did not predict the subsequent level of cognitive activity participation. Cognitive activity showed the same pattern of unidirectional associations with measures of episodic and semantic memory, but its associations with working memory were bidirectional. Conclusions: The results suggest that more frequent mental stimulation in old age leads to better cognitive functioning.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1123-1129 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Neurology |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 10 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Study funding: Supported by National Institute on Aging grants R01-AG17917, R01-AG22018, R01-AG34374, and R01-AG33678 and by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Dr. Wilson serves as a Consulting Editor for Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition and Psychology and Aging; has served as a consultant for Pain Therapeutics, Inc.; and receives research support from the NIH/NIA. Dr. Segawa receives research support from the NIH/NIA. Dr. Boyle receives research support from the NIH/NIA. Dr. Bennett serves on the scientific advisory board for Vigorous Minds; serves on the editorial boards of Neurology®, Current Alzheimer Research, and Neuroepidemiology; serves/has served as a consultant to Nutricia, Wilmar Schwabe GmbH & Co., Eli Lilly and Company, Schlesinger Associates, Schering-Plough Corp., Medivation, Inc., and the Gerson Lehrman Group; and receives research support from Nutricia, Danone Research B.V., the NIH, and the Illinois Department of Public Health.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology