Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-8gtf8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-25T21:28:55.936Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early and late life cognitive activity and cognitive systems in old age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2005

ROBERT S. WILSON ,
LISA L. BARNES ,
KRISTIN R. KRUEGER ,
GEORGE HOGANSON ,
JULIA L. BIENIAS  and
DAVID A. BENNETT
ROBERT S. WILSON
Affiliation:
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Psychology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
LISA L. BARNES
Affiliation:
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Psychology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
KRISTIN R. KRUEGER
Affiliation:
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Psychology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
GEORGE HOGANSON
Affiliation:
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
JULIA L. BIENIAS
Affiliation:
Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Internal Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
DAVID A. BENNETT
Affiliation:
Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Little is known about the relative benefits of cognitively stimulating activities at different points in the lifespan. In a cohort of 576 older persons without dementia, we assessed current and past (childhood, young adulthood, middle age) frequency of cognitive activity; availability of cognitively stimulating resources in the home in childhood and middle age; and 5 domains of cognitive function. Past cognitive activity and cognitive resources were positively correlated with both current cognitive activity and current cognitive function. The association with cognitive function was reduced after controlling for current cognitive activity, however. Current cognitive activity was associated with better cognitive function, especially semantic memory and perceptual speed, even after controlling for past activity. The results suggest that past cognitive activity contributes to current cognition principally through its association with cognitive activity in old age. (JINS, 2005, 11, 400–407.)

Keywords

Human activityCognitionMemoryAgingEpidemiologic studiesCross-sectional studies
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , July 2005 , pp. 400 - 407
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Albert, M., Smith, L., Scherr, P., Taylor, J., Evans, D., & Funkenstein, H.. (1991). Use of brief cognitive tests to identify individuals in the community with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. International Journal of Neuroscience, 57, 167–178.Google Scholar
Beaulieu, C. & Colonnier, M. (1989). Number and size of neurons and synapses in the motor cortex of cats raised in different environmental complexities. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 289, 178–181.Google Scholar
Benes, F.M., Turtle, M., Kahn, Y., & Farol, P. (1994). Myelination of a key relay zone in the hippocampal formation occurs in the human brain during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 477–484.Google Scholar
Bennett, D.A., Schneider, J.A., Buchman, A.S., Mendes de Leon, C.F., Bienlas, J.L., & Wilson, R.S. (in press). The Rush Memory and Aging Project: Study design and baseline characteristics of the study cohort. Neuroepidemiology.
Bennett, D.A., Wilson, R.S., Schneider, J.A., Evans, D.A., Mendes de Leon, C.F., Arnold, S.E., Barnes, L.L., & Bienias, J.L. (2003). Education modifies the relation of AD pathology to level of cognitive function in older persons. Neurology, 60, 1909–1915.Google Scholar
Benton, A.L., Sivan, A.B., Hamsher, K.DeS., Varney, N.R., & Spreen, O. (1994). Contributions to neuropsychological assessment (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bradley, R.H., Caldwell, B.M., Rock, S.L., Barnard, K.E., Gray, C., Hammond, M.A., Mitchell, S., Siegel, L.M., Ramey, C.T., Gottfried, A.M., & Johnson, D.L. (1989). Home environment and cognitive development in the first 3 years of life: A collaborative study involving six sites and three ethnic groups in North America. Developmental Psychology, 28, 217–235.Google Scholar
Christensen, H. & Mackinnon, A. (1993). The association between mental, social, and physical activity and cognitive performance in young and old subjects. Age and Ageing, 22, 175–182.Google Scholar
Comery, T.A., Stamoudis, C.X., Irwin, S.A., & Greenough, W.T. (1996). Increased density of multiple-head dendritic spines on medium-sized spiny neurons of the striatum in rats reared in a complex environment. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 66, 93–96.Google Scholar
Cooper, J.A. & Sagar, H.J. (1993). Incidental and intentional recall in Parkinson's disease: An account based on diminished attentional resources. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 15, 713–731.Google Scholar
Ekstrom, R.B., French, J.W., Harman, H.H., & Kermen, D. (1976). Manual for kit of factor-referenced cognitive tests. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
Eriksson, P.S., Perfilieva, E., Bjork-Eriksson, T., Alborn, A.M., Nordborg, C., Peterson, D.A., & Gage, F.H. (1998). Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Medicine, 4, 1313–1317.Google Scholar
Folstein, M., Folstein, S., & McHugh, P. (1975). Mental-Mental State: A practical method for grading the mental state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Friedland, R.P., Fritsch, T., Smyth, K.A., Koss, E., Lerner, A.J., Chen, C.H., Petot, G.J., & Debanne, S.M. (2001). Patients with Alzheimer's disease have reduced activities in midlife compared with healthy control-group members. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 98, 3440–3445.Google Scholar
Greenough, W.T., Hwang, H.M., & Gorman, C. (1985). Evidence for active synapse formation or altered postsynaptic metabolism in visual cortex of rats reared in complex environments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 82, 4549–4552.Google Scholar
Hultsch, D., Hammer, M., & Small, B. (1993). Age difference in cognitive performance in later life: Relationships to self-reported health and activity life style. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 48, P1–P11.Google Scholar
Jones, T.A., Klintsova, A.Y., Kilman, V.L., Sirevaag, A.M., & Greenough, W.T. (1997). Induction of multiple synapses by experience in the visual cortex of adult rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 68, 13–20.Google Scholar
Hultsch, D., Hertzog, C., Small, B., & Dixon, R. (1999). Use it or lose it: Engaged lifestyle as a buffer of cognitive decline in aging? Psychology and Aging, 14, 245–263.Google Scholar
Kaplan, E.F., Goodglass, H., & Weintraub, S. (1983). The Boston Naming Test. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.
Katz, L.C. & Shatz, C.J. (1996). Synaptic activity and construction of cortical circuits. Science, 274, 1133–1138.Google Scholar
Kempermann, G., Kuhn, H.G., & Gage, F.H. (1997). More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enriched environment. Nature, 386, 493–495.Google Scholar
Kornack, D.R. & Rakic, P. (1999). Continuation of neurogenesis in the hippocampus of the adult macaque monkey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 96, 5768–5773.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., Katzman, R., Price, D., & Stadlan, E. (1984). Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Report of the NINCDS/ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology, 34, 939–944.Google Scholar
Morris, J., Heyman, A., Mohs, R., Hughes, J., van Belle, G., Fillenbaum, G., Mellits, E., Clark, C., & Investigators, C. (1989). The consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD). Part I. Clinical and neuropsychological assessment of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 39, 1159–1165.Google Scholar
Nudo, R.J., Wise, B.M., SiFuentes, F., & Milliken, G.W. (1996). Neural substrates for the effects of rehabilitative training on motor recovery after ischemic infarct. Science, 272, 1791–1794.Google Scholar
Paus, T., Zijdenbos A., Worsley K., Collins, D.L., Blumenthal, J., Giedd, J.N., Rapoport, J.L., & Evans, A.C. (1999). Structural maturation of neural pathways in children and adolescents: In vivo study. Science, 283, 1908–1911.Google Scholar
Penn, A.A. & Shatz, C.J. (1999). Brain waves and brain wiring: The role of endogenous and sensory-driven neural activity in development. Pediatric Research, 45, 447–458.Google Scholar
Pfefferbaum, A., Mathalon, D.H., Sullivan, E.V., Rawles, J.M., Zipursky, R.B., & Lim, K.O. (1994). A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study of changes in brain morphology from infancy to late adulthood. Archives of Neurology, 51, 874–887.Google Scholar
Rand, W.M. (1971). Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 66, 846–850.Google Scholar
Raven, J.C., Court, J.H., & Raven J. (1992). Manual for Raven's progressive matrices and vocabulary: Standard Progressive Matrices. Oxford, UK: Oxford Psychologists Press.
SAS Institute, Inc. (2000). SAS/STAT® User's Guide, Version 8. Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.
Scarmeas, N., Levy, G., Tang, M.-X., Manly, J., & Stern, Y. (2001). Influence of leisure activity on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 57, 2236–2242.Google Scholar
Seil, F.J. (1997). Recovery and repair issues after stroke from the scientific perspective. Current Opinions in Neurobiology, 10, 49–51.Google Scholar
Singer, W. (1995). Development and plasticity of cortical processing architectures. Science, 270, 758–764.Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1982). Symbol Digit Modalities Test manual–revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Steen, R.G., Ogg, R.J., Reddick, W.E., & Kingsley, P.B. (1997). Age-related changes in the pediatric brain: Quantitative MR evidence of maturational changes during adolescence. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 18, 819–828.Google Scholar
Stern, Y. (2002). What is cognitive reserve? Theory and research application of the reserve concept. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8, 448–460.Google Scholar
Trenerry, M.R., Crosson, B., DeBoe, J., & Leber, W.R. (1989). The Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Verghese, J., Lipton, R.B., Katz, M.J., Hall, C.B., Derby, C.A., Kuslansky, G., Ambrose, A.F., Sliwinski, M., & Buschke, M. (2003). Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 2508–2516.Google Scholar
Wang, H.-X., Karp, A., Winblad, B., & Fratiglioni, L. (2002). Late-life engagement in social and leisure activities is associated with a decreased risk of dementia: A longitudinal study from the Kungsholmen Project. American Journal of Epidemiology, 155, 1081–1087.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1987). Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Wilson, R.S., Barnes, L.L., & Bennett, D.A. (2003). Assessment of lifetime participation in cognitively stimulating activities. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 634–642.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Beckett, L.A., Barnes, L.L., Schneider, J.A., Bach, J., Evans, D.A., & Bennett, D.A. (2002a). Individual differences in rates of change in cognitive abilities of older persons. Psychology and Aging, 17, 179–193.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Bennett, D.A., Beckett, L.A., Morris, M.C., Gilley, D.W., Bienias, J.L., Scherr, P.A., & Evans, D.A. (1999). Cognitive activity in older persons from a geographically defined population. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 54B, P155–P160.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Bennett, D.A., Bienias, J.L., Aggarwal, N.T., Mendes de Leon, C.F., Morris, M.C., Schneider, J.A., & Evans, D.A. (2002b). Cognitive activity and incident AD in a population-based sample of older persons. Neurology, 59, 1910–1914.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Bennett, D.A., Gilley, D.W., Beckett, L.A., Barnes, L.L., & Evans, D.A. (2000). Premorbid reading activity and patterns of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology, 57, 1718–1723.Google Scholar
Wilson, R.S., Mendes de Leon, C.F., Barnes, L.L., Schneider, J.A., Bienias, J.L., Evans, D.A., & Bennett, D.A. (2002c). Participation in cognitively stimulating activities and risk of incident Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287, 742–748.Google Scholar