Increases in Cognitive Activity Reduce Aging-Related Declines in Executive Functioning.

ABSTRACT: Declines in cognitive functioning are commonly experienced with aging, yet there is wide variation in the nature and extent of these changes. Previous research has shown associations between the frequency of engaging in stimulating cognitive activities and performance on cognitive tests. However, it is not known whether it is important to increase the amount of cognitive activity as one gets older in order to curtail cognitive declines. We examined cognitive activities and cognition in a national sample of 2,130 community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal study. Participants completed cognitive assessments of episodic memory (EM) and executive functioning (EF) on two occasions, ~9 years apart. At the first assessment, participants rang

SUBMITTER: Stieger M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8358146 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature