Readings

Stimulated Brains Second to Nun

Want to promote a healthy brain? Advocate a lifetime of cognitively stimulating activities to your pupils. Research carried out at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago has added further weight to the 'use-it-or-lose-it' hypothesis, finding that everyday activities such as reading and doing crosswords may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's Disease. The findings, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are the result of a study of aging among 700 dementia-free Catholic nuns, brothers and priests aged 65 and older across the US.

Each participant was asked at the initial assessment about the time they spent doing activities that significantly involved information processing, such as reading, listening to the radio, visiting museums, playing games and completing crosswords. The frequency of participation was rated on a five-point scale. Cognitive tests were then carried out annually to assess aspects such as memory, language and attention. When the activity-frequency scores of those who eventually developed Alzheimer's Disease were compared to the rest of the group the researchers found a correlation between less time spent on stimulating activities and developing the disease. On average, the risk of Alzheimer's was reduced by 47 percent among those who participated more often in cognitively stimulating activities when compared to someone of the lowest activity level.