Cognitive leisure activities and future risk of cognitive impairment and dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Yates, Lauren; Ziser, Shier; Spector, Aimee; Orrell, Martin

doi:10.1017/s1041610216001137

Cited by 235 publications

(204 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Also, a stronger relationship of lifestyle with memory, but not with other cognitive functions like for example executive functions [5]. The relevance of lifestyle factors is in line with another meta-analysis [6] showing that cognitively stimulating leisure activities may contribute to a reduced risk of cognitive impairment in later life. Furthermore, some studies show the beneficial effect of music training for cognitive improvement in older adults: Learning to play the piano and to read music improved the executive functions in older adults [7].…”

Section: Commentarysupporting

confidence: 66%

The Need to Find the Personal Lifestyle Factor Counteracting Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging

Jansen¹

2017

J Gerontol Geriatr Res

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CommentaryIn the last years, much research focuses on the possible influence of physical activity on cognitive decline. Retrospective studies with healthy older people show that long lasting physical activity may reduce the risk for this decline. Prospective studies supply, in part, results arguing in favor of the efficacy of physical activity regarding cognition. One of the first meta-analysis was the one of Colcombe and Kramer [1]. They analyzed the effects of different trainings on executive, controlled, spatial, and speed tasks. The authors showed a higher improvement of the physical trainings groups compared to the control groups, especially in executive tasks. Until this study, on the one hand, few other meta-analyses were published, where the results were either interpreted with caution [2] or positive effects of a physical activity training compared to a control group could not be shown [3]. On the other hand, neuronal changes have been found related to physical activity, also in older people [4]. With this respect, an increase in the BDNF-factor and the insulin-like-growths-factor IGF-1 as well as neurogenesis may play a role.But even though the influence of physical activity on cognitive decline is well investigated, this factor is not the only one relevant. Küster et al. [5] showed, in a controlled intervention study, that a cognitive improvement in older adults at risk of dementia is more positively associated with an active cognitive lifestyle as with a specific cognitive or physical training program. More specifically, adults with an active lifestyle as measured by their physical, cognitive and social activity, showed an improvement in cognitive performance after ten weeks compared to individuals with a less active lifestyle. Neither the cognitive nor the physical training in itself had an effect on the cognitive measurements. One reason for this result might be that lifestyle factors or leisure activities were pursued over a longer period of time than the applied training sessions. Furthermore, an active lifestyle includes the variety of physical, cognitive and social activities. Also, a stronger relationship of lifestyle with memory, but not with other cognitive functions like for example executive functions [5]. The relevance of lifestyle factors is in line with another meta-analysis [6] showing that cognitively stimulating leisure activities may contribute to a reduced risk of cognitive impairment in later life. Furthermore, some studies show the beneficial effect of music training for cognitive improvement in older adults: Learning to play the piano and to read music improved the executive functions in older adults [7].Having these results in mind the claim to be more physically active is important due to its positive effect on the body. Concerning the mind and brain, physical activity is not the only factor which has the potential to improve cognitive performance. In our opinion, more sophisticated studies, which also consider the preference in leisuretime activity, have to be conducted.

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Section: Commentarysupporting

confidence: 66%

The Need to Find the Personal Lifestyle Factor Counteracting Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging

Jansen¹

2017

J Gerontol Geriatr Res

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“…Studies in humans have also demonstrated a link between music training early in life and better auditory processing skills later in life, especially in challenging listening environments (39)(40)(41). Although early training in younger life has been shown to confer enduring neurobehavioral advantages and to contribute to positive brain health benefits sustained into older ages, scientists still incompletely understand the basis of this "cognitive reserve" (42,43). However, higher SOP, the accurate reception of target stimuli in the presence of confusable distractors, and the retained connectional integrity of forebrain systems, all of which were intensely engaged by our simple training task, provide key indices of the measured level of protection that is commonly attributed to this "reserve" (2,43,44).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although early training in younger life has been shown to confer enduring neurobehavioral advantages and to contribute to positive brain health benefits sustained into older ages, scientists still incompletely understand the basis of this "cognitive reserve" (42,43). However, higher SOP, the accurate reception of target stimuli in the presence of confusable distractors, and the retained connectional integrity of forebrain systems, all of which were intensely engaged by our simple training task, provide key indices of the measured level of protection that is commonly attributed to this "reserve" (2,43,44). Our results, together with those of others (37)(38)(39)(40)(41), therefore indicate that cognitive reserve may be amplified at any age, that the functional and physical impacts of this amplification can be long enduring, and that with appropriate training dosing, brain health and function is likely sustainable, at a high level, across the lifespan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive impacts of early auditory training on cortical processing at an older age

Cheng

Jia

Zhang

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Progressive negative behavioral changes in normal aging are paralleled by a complex series of physical and functional declines expressed in the cerebral cortex. In studies conducted in the auditory domain, these degrading physical and functional cortical changes have been shown to be broadly reversed by intensive progressive training that improves the spectral and temporal resolution of acoustic inputs and suppresses behavioral distractors. Here we found older rats that were intensively trained on an attentionally demanding modulation-rate recognition task in young adulthood substantially retained training-driven improvements in temporal rate discrimination abilities over a subsequent 18-mo epoch-that is, forward into their older age. In parallel, this young-adult auditory training enduringly enhanced temporal and spectral information processing in their primary auditory cortices (A1). Substantially greater numbers of parvalbumin-and somatostatin-labeled inhibitory neurons (closer to the numbers recorded in young vigorous adults) were recorded in the A1 and hippocampus in old trained versus untrained age-matched rats. These results show that a simple form of training in young adulthood in this rat model enduringly delays the otherwise expected deterioration of the physical status and functional operations of the auditory nervous system, with evident training impacts generalized to the hippocampus.aging | auditory cortex | behavioral training | cortical processing | inhibition A degradation of the status of physical brain machinery, expressed by a decline in its temporal processing abilities, has been repeatedly associated with its deteriorating functional status in normal aging (1-4). Recent studies have shown that the machinery that supports processing accuracy and speed, as well as the processes supporting attention control and distractor suppression, can be substantially rejuvenated via simple forms of intensive training in the aged-rat model (4, 5). With auditory perceptual training, in parallel with recovery in behavioral abilities to that matching young-animal performance levels, serials of key physical, chemical, and functional aspects of cortical processing machinery in the trained rats were shown to be restored to a physical or functional status that approached that normally recorded in vigorous young-adult animals.In human studies, substantial changes in speed of processing (SOP) and in other spectro-temporal (or spatiotemporal) signal resolution of performance abilities have been shown to result from attention-demanding, speed-challenged auditory (3, 5-7) or visual training (8-11). For example, the accurate behavioral identification and stimulus-order reconstruction of rapidly successive auditory stimuli was restored in human individuals trained in their eighth decade of life to a performance level normally typifying human performance abilities recorded in their third or fourth decade (3, 6).Our goal here was to define the magnitude and endurance of an intense dose of attention-demanding modulation di...

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“…Many studies have shown that older adults who rarely participated in mental or social activities had a higher risk of cognitive decline . A high level of social interactions is beneficial for maintaining cognitive function, and participating in a diversity of activities can reduce the mortality of dementia .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Existing studies have comprehensively proved that non‐physical leisure activities were mostly cognitively stimulating leisure activities, and cognitive leisure activities mainly included reading books or newspapers, watching TV, listening to music, playing a musical instrument, playing bridge or cards, surfing the Internet, solving crossword puzzles, working in the garden, visiting friends, participating in social activities and so on . Frequently taking part in individual cognitively stimulating leisure activities is associated with a significantly reduced risk of cognitive impairment for older adults . Most studies have grouped leisure activities into physical, mental or intellectual and social components .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclassified cognitive leisure activity and risk of cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults aged ≥80 years: A 16‐year prospective cohort study

Qiu

Sun

Zhong

et al. 2019

Geriatrics Gerontology Int

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Aim There is accumulating evidence that participation in cognitive leisure activities might be related to a reduced risk of cognitive impairment. However, there is no consensus regarding the classification of cognitive leisure activities, and it cannot clearly define each activity and quantitatively evaluate the effect of it. In the present study, we propose a new classification method, and examine the relationship between reclassified cognitive leisure activities and cognitive function. Methods The analysis included 4830 participants of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, who were aged >80 years and free of cognitive impairment at 1998. They were followed up six times. Six cognitive leisure activities were mainly grouped into intrapersonal and interpersonal cognitive leisure activity by categorical principal component analysis. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between reclassified cognitive leisure activities and the risk of cognitive impairment. Results After a median follow‐up period of 16 years, 1763 participants suffered from cognitive impairment (Mini‐Mental State Examination score <24). Reading newspapers or books, taking part in some social activities and sometimes playing cards or mahjong were associated with a decreased risk of cognitive impairment (P < 0.05 for all). In multivariable adjusted models, compared with those with lower intensities, the hazard ratios (95% confident intervals) of cognitive impairment were 0.86 (0.74–0.99) and 0.71 (0.60–0.83) for participants with high intensities of intrapersonal and interpersonal cognitive leisure activity, respectively. Conclusion A high frequency of participation in intrapersonal and interpersonal cognitive leisure activities showed a lower risk of cognitive impairment among the oldest‐old in China. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 1041–1047.

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Cognitive leisure activities and future risk of cognitive impairment and dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Cited by 235 publications

References 53 publications

The Need to Find the Personal Lifestyle Factor Counteracting Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging

The Need to Find the Personal Lifestyle Factor Counteracting Cognitive Decline in Normal Aging

Positive impacts of early auditory training on cortical processing at an older age

Reclassified cognitive leisure activity and risk of cognitive impairment in Chinese older adults aged ≥80 years: A 16‐year prospective cohort study

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