P4‐365: Association of Cognitive Leisure Activity With Cognitive Function and Brain Structure in Midlife: the Cardia Study
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Cognitively-stimulating activity may increase cognitive reserve; prior studies suggest that older adults who engage in cognitively-stimulating leisure activities are at reduced risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia. However, less is known about whether cognitive leisure activity is associated with cognitive or brain health in mid-life. We investigated whether cognitive activity is associated with cognitive function and brain structure in a community-based cohort of black and white middle-aged adults. Participants included 604 adults [40% black, 53% female, mean age 55.32 (SD = 3.5)] from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study who completed a cognitive activity questionnaire (focused on how much, on average they perform ten different leisure activities such as reading books, playing music, social activities with scores for each activity ranging from 0 = Never to 6 = Daily), a cognitive test battery, and underwent a structural brain MRI (3T) in midlife. Using linear mixed model analyses, we investigated associations between cognitive activity, cognitive performance, and brain structure [gray and white matter volume, white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)]. Models adjusted for demographics (age, gender, race), site, education, literacy, occupational complexity, and other cardiovascular health/lifestyle factors associated with mid-life cognitive activity; models examining brain volume were additionally adjusted for intracranial volume. Given multiple comparisons, we applied the False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction to protect against Type 1 error. In fully adjusted models, higher total mid-life cognitive activity was significantly associated with better performance on a global cognitive composite score (β = 0.013; p < 0.001) and most individual cognitive measures (processing speed: p < 0.001; executive functioning: p = 0.02; letter fluency: p < 0.001; category fluency: p = 0.02); these findings survived FDR correction. Associations with memory were non-significant. There were minimal associations between cognitive activity and brain structural measures, none of which survived FDR correction and multivariate adjustment. Engagement in cognitive activities was cross-sectionally associated with better cognitive function, even in mid-life. It would be of interest to carry out intervention studies targeting increased cognitive leisure activity to see whether they promote and maintain optimal cognitive health across the lifespan.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Institutions: San Francisco VA Medical Center, University of California, San Francisco, Northern California Institute for Research and Education, University of Minnesota, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, University of Pennsylvania, Kaiser Permanente, The University of Texas at Austin, San Francisco VA Health Care System
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2981238375