Those board games we learned as teenagers are vital to keep our brains active as we age
Findings from a new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggest older people with mild cognitive impairment who engage in high levels of activities such as word games and hobbies have better memory, working memory, attention and processing speed than those who do not.
“Today, nearly six million people in the United States have dementia, and this number is projected to grow to about 14 million by 2060 – with minority populations affected the most,” said Dr. Junhyoung “Paul” Kim, an associate professor of health behavior at Texas A&M. “We sought to help fill the gap in our understanding of cognitive decline.”
For the study, published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, Kim, along with researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi and Indiana University, analysed data on 5,932 people who were at least 50 years old in 2012, had mild cognitive impairment and were part of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 2012 to 2020.
For this study, the researchers examined answers to seven questions about how often participants engaged in cognitively stimulating activities such as reading, game playing and hobbies. Next, they divided the participation levels in the categories of low, mid and high based on criteria used in previous studies and conducted repeated-measured multivariate analysis of covariance.
“In short, the high-level participation group consistently exhibited higher cognitive function levels during the study period and maintained a similar level of cognitive functions compared to the other groups,” Kim said.
Those in the high-level category had higher levels of memory, working memory, and attention and processing speed than those in the mid- and low-level groups. In addition, those in the mid-level category had higher levels of working memory and attention and processing speed than those in the low-level participation group.
The lesson? You’re never too old for a game or a hobby that you love – and it might even help you to age better.
