The association between purpose/meaning in life and verbal fluency and episodic memory: a meta-analysis of >140,000 participants from up to 32 countries.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Feelings of purpose and meaning in life are protective against consequential cognitive outcomes, including reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Purpose and meaning are likely to also be associated with cognitive functions on the pathway to dementia. The objective of the current research was to test whether both purpose in life and meaning in life are associated with higher verbal fluency and better episodic memory and whether these associations varied by sociodemographic characteristics or economic characteristics of the country.

Design

Prospective meta-analysis of cross-sectional associations based on individual participant data.

Setting

Established cohort studies with measures of either purpose in life or meaning in life and verbal fluency an

SUBMITTER: Sutin AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8380267 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature