Solve a puzzle and brain power increases, play a mentally stimulating game, read a good book – In fact any activity that stimulates the brain has been found in a latest research study supported by the National Institute on Aging to delay the start of dementia related loss of memory in older people. Therefore, how are puzzles and brain health linked? The info comes from the Bronx Aging Study which includes data on nearly 500 subjects between 75 and 85 years old who did not have dementia at the start of the research. The work appears in the August 4, 2009 issue of Neurology and has found cognitive leisure activities seem to hold off the memory decline in people who turn out to be diagnosed with dementia.
A few of the factors thought to cognitive reserve
A few of the factors thought to be involved include what is called cognitive reserve, which can be impacted by education early in life as well as take part in activities that stimulate the brain. It is this cognitive reserve that is thought to help hold off the decline in memory associated with dementia throughout the preclinical phases, the time before you see the symptoms. The subjects, all part of the Bronze Age study, completed assessments every 12 to 18 months that told researchers if they were involved in mentally stimulating out of work activities like reading, crossword puzzles, playing music, writing, playing cards or a board game or participate in a group discussion.
How frequently they participated
The subjects also indicated how frequently they participated in these things, daily, a few days a week or weekly. Point totals were assigned to the frequencies and tabulated by the research team. The data on 101 of the subjects who developed dementia over the 5 years follow up was evaluated carefully. The median total points for this group being 7, which worked out to taking part, on average, in 1 of the six activities every day. In all, 10 participants reported no activities, another 11 reported only 1 activity per week. The researchers looked especially closely at the point when the loss of memory accelerated for each participant.
The more mentally active subjects
The more mentally active subjects took longer for memory decline becoming a problem. They saw that each additional activity day was related to a delay in the onset of decline by 0.18 years for these subjects. The team also in order that later – mental stimulation seems to affect your overall cognitive reserve regardless of education. Everyone may get the advantage of mentally challenging activities. The average age of the world’s population is increasing at a rate we have never seen before. Worldwide the number of individuals over 65 is estimated to be 506 million in 2008, an astonishing 1.3 billion by 2040, which is 14% of the total population of the world. The issues and challenges of aging are going to be difficult to ignore in the years to come, which is the reason for learning about dementia and how to overcome it’s so important.
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