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Lifestyle Activities and Memory: Variety May Be the Spice of Life. The Women's Health and Aging Study II

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2011

Michelle C. Carlson ,
Jeanine M. Parisi ,
Jin Xia ,
Qian-Li Xue ,
George W. Rebok ,
Karen Bandeen-Roche  and
Linda P. Fried
Michelle C. Carlson*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland
Jeanine M. Parisi
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
Jin Xia
Affiliation:
Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland Division of Geriatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Qian-Li Xue
Affiliation:
Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland Division of Geriatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
George W. Rebok
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland
Karen Bandeen-Roche
Affiliation:
Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, Center on Aging and Health
Linda P. Fried
Affiliation:
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Michelle C. Carlson, Department of Mental Health, Center on Aging and Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 2024 E. Monument Street, Suite 2-700, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: mcarlson@jhsph.edu
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Abstract

This study examined whether participation in a variety of lifestyle activities was comparable to frequent participation in cognitively challenging activities in mitigating impairments in cognitive abilities susceptible to aging in healthy, community-dwelling older women. Frequencies of participation in various lifestyle activities on the Lifestyle Activities Questionnaire (LAQ) were divided according to high (e.g., reading), moderate (e.g., discussing politics), and low (e.g., watching television) cognitive demand. We also considered the utility of participation in a variety of lifestyle activities regardless of cognitive challenge. Immediate and delayed verbal recall, psychomotor speed, and executive function were each measured at baseline and at five successive exams, spanning a 9.5-year interval. Greater variety of participation in activities, regardless of cognitive challenge, was associated with an 8 to 11% reduction in the risk of impairment in verbal memory and global cognitive outcomes. Participation in a variety of lifestyle activities was more predictive than frequency or level of cognitive challenge for significant reductions in risk of incident impairment on measures sensitive to cognitive aging and risk for dementia. Our findings offer new perspectives in promoting a diverse repertoire of activities to mitigate age-related cognitive declines. (JINS, 2012, 18, 286–294)

Keywords

Cognitive agingDementiaIntensityEpidemiologyLongitudinalRisk reduction behavior
Type
Research Articles
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 286 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2011

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