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Enriching early‐life activities and cognition in later life: Results from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
Author(s) -
Crane Breanna M,
Carlson Michelle C
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.041194
Subject(s) - cognition , psychology , health and retirement study , association (psychology) , gerontology , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , psychotherapist
Background The positive association between engagement in mid‐ and late‐life enrichment activities and cognitive function in late‐life has been presented in many studies. However, the effect of enriching early‐life activities (EELAs) on cognition in late‐life has been relatively unexplored. Recently, we have found that greater enrichment in early‐life was linked to positive late‐life cognition and brain biomarkers (i.e., larger amygdala and hippocampal volumes, etc.). In this study, we examined the relationship between EELAs and late‐life cognition using the 2017 Life History Mail Survey (LHMS) and additional cognitive and demographic variables, all of which came from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Method A complete‐case analysis was conducted from a subset of respondents in the HRS aged 50+ (N = 1,872, M = 66.5, SD = 10.1) who completed cognitive testing during 2010 and completed the ten‐item retrospective survey in the LHMS on enriching activities performed during adolescence. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between EELAs in adolescence and cognition in later‐life. Result Engaging in EELAs was positively associated with late‐life cognition after adjusting for age, gender, race, mother's and father’s education, birth cohort, income, and various health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diabetes, hypertension). After incorporating one’s level of education into the model, this association was no longer significant. Conclusion These results suggest that engaging in enriching activities in adolescence may be protective against cognitive decline in later‐life. Providing programs that promote EELAs (e.g., after‐school programs, extracurricular activities, etc.) during adolescence may be a key modifiable factor to buffer the effects of cognitive decline in later‐life. Future studies should incorporate additional in‐depth questions about EELAs to further investigate the relationship between these activities in early‐life and cognition in later‐life.