Cognitive activity and the cognitive morbidity of Alzheimer disease.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To test the hypothesis that frequent cognitive activity predicts slower cognitive decline before dementia onset in Alzheimer disease (AD) and faster decline thereafter.

Methods

As part of a longitudinal cohort study, older residents of a geographically defined population were assessed at 3-year intervals with brief cognitive performance tests from which a composite measure of global cognition was derived. After each wave of testing, a subset was sampled for clinical evaluation. The present analyses are based on 1,157 participants. They were free of dementia at study enrollment at which time they rated frequency of participation in common cognitively stimulating activities from which a previously validated summary measure was derived. They were sampled for clinical

SUBMITTER: Wilson RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2942032 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature