Commentary on “Lower small-worldness of intrinsic brain networks facilitates the cognitive protection of intellectual engagement in elderly people without dementia: A near-infrared spectroscopy study”

Cohort studies and systematic reviews have identified the link between cognitive stimulation (such as the learning of novel activities) in later life and a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia. The effect of these activities in older people is not trivial. In a structural equation modelling analysis of data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), for example, engaging in cognitive reserve-enhancing activities was shown to mitigate the genetic risk of dementia attributable to APOE- ε4 in a prospective community sample of cognitively intact older persons.
Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Invited Perspective Source Type: research