Lifestyle Engagement Affects Cognitive Status Differences and Trajectories on Executive Functions in Older Adults

Abstract

The authors first examined the concurrent moderating role of lifestyle engagement on the relation between cognitive status (cognitively elite, cognitively normal [CN], and cognitively impaired [CI]) and executive functioning (EF) in older adults. Second, the authors examined whether baseline participation in lifestyle activities predicted differential 4.5-year stabilities and transitions in cognitive status. Participants (initial N = 501; 53-90 years) were from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. EF was represented by a 1-factor structure. Lifestyle activities were measured in multiple domains of engagement (e.g., cognitive, physical, and social). Two-wave status stability groups included sustained normal aging, transitional early impairment, and chronic impairment. Hierarchical regressions showed that baseline participation in social activities moderated cognitive status differences in EF. CI adults with high (but not low) social engagement performed equivalently to CN adults on EF. Longitudinally, logistic regressions showed that engagement in physical activities was a significant predictor of stability of cognitive status. CI adults who were more engaged in physical activities were more likely to improve in their cognitive status over time than their more sedentary peers. Participation in cognitive activities was a significant predictor of maintenance in a higher cognitive status group. Given that lifestyle engagement plays a detectable role in healthy, normal, and impaired neuropsychological aging, further research in activity-related associations and interventions is recommended.

The Role of Employment on Neurocognitive Reserve in Adults With HIV: A Review of the Literature

“…In fact, due to the complexity involved in each social interaction, studies indicate that individuals with larger social networks actually show improved performance in episodic memory, working memory, and perceptual speed (Dickinson, Potter, Hybels, McQuoid, & Steffens, 2011; Jedrziewski, Ewbank, Haidong, & Trojanowski, 2014). Frias and Dixon (2013) suggest social engagement functions as a moderator of neurocognitive status in executive function which supports previous studies related to the social engagement hypothesis that purports positive effects of socialization in higher ordered neurocognition. In support of existing research, Saczynksi and colleagues (2012) found persons less socially engaged in their midlife had the highest risk of neurocognitive decline.…”

The impact of employment on cognition and cognitive reserve: implications across diseases and aging

“…Such social engagement has been suggested to facilitate higher-ordered cognition, such as executive functioning. 13 In fact, some studies demonstrate that those with larger social networks may benefit from better overall perceptual speed, episodic memory, and working memory. 14,15 Likewise, in a sample of 2,513 adults in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, Saczynski et al observed that those with decreased social engagement in mid to late life exhibited the highest risk profile for cognitive decline years later, which supports the notion of an active social engagement being supportive of better cognitive reserve.…”

“…As seen in this literature review, socializing is very cognitively stimulating; one must utilize many different executive functioning skills to respond and react accordingly to the complex social interactions one is engaged in. [13][14][15] Given the milieu of rich social interactions, neuroscientists assert its importance in promoting positive neuroplasticity and cognitive reserve. 65 A practical suggestion to patients who are unemployed would be to engage in more social interaction with friends and family and perhaps volunteer in community organizations and charities.…”

Cognitively elite, cognitively normal, and cognitively impaired aging: Neurocognitive status and stability moderate memory performance

“…Not only was the CE group structurally more similar to healthy younger adults, but it performed at a level that was superior to its counterparts. More recently, we extended this research to show that lifestyle activities (cognitive, physical, social) moderated some cognitive status effects on executive functions (de Frias & Dixon, press). …”

“…Genetic-related examples have also appeared, with early suggestions that protective allelic combinations may influence brain and cognitive maintenance (Nyberg et al, 2012) even in the presence of biohealth risk factors (e.g., McFall et al, in press). At a cognitive level, supportive functions may derive from strategic (e.g., developing awareness and use of memory compensation techniques; Dixon & de Frias, 2007; Garrett, Grady, & Hasher, 2010), relatively intact basic or support processes (e.g., cognitive or brain reserve; Fratiglioni & Wang, 2007; Reuter-Lorenz & Cappell, 2008; Stern, 2007, 2009), and activity or environmental interventions (Brown, Peiffer, & Martins, 2012; Carlson et al, 2012; de Frias & Dixon, in press; Gross, Rebok, Unverzagt, Willis, & Brandt, 2011; Hertzog, Kramer, Wilson, & Lindenberger, 2008; Small, Dixon, McArdle, & Grimm, 2012). In general, attention has been devoted to the concept and potential mechanisms for exceptional or sustained brain and cognitive aging.…”