Our brains undergo changes as we age , and some people may experience problems with memory, thinking, or judgment.
Mild cognitive impairment is the stage between age-related cognitive impairment and dementia; however, it does not significantly affect our daily life and activities.
People with mild cognitive impairment tend to forget things, lose the thread of conversations or the idea of what they wanted to convey at the time, and feel overwhelmed when making decisions.
Mild cognitive impairment can increase the risk of dementia, but not all people with this situation of cognitive changes develop the condition. To date, the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) has not approved any treatment specifically for mild cognitive impairment.
Lifestyle choices like physical exercise and intellectual stimulation have positive effects on the brain. In recent years, researchers have been conducting more studies to find treatments that can prevent cognitive decline.
Stimulating activities promote brain health
A new study published in the journal Neurology has found that using a computer, playing games, doing crafts, and participating in social activities can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment.
“Our study looked at how often people engaged in mentally stimulating activities in both midlife and adulthood, with the goal of examining when those activities may be most beneficial to the brain,” says Yonas E. Geda, from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona (USA) and author of the study.
The experts recruited 2,000 people over the age of 70 without mild cognitive impairment and asked them to complete a questionnaire about how often they engaged in different types of stimulating mental activities in both their 50s and 60s and into adulthood. The participants underwent thinking and memory tests every 15 months, and the researchers monitored them for an average of 5 years. During this period, 532 people developed mild cognitive impairment.
Of all the volunteers, only 15 used a computer in middle age. E n comparison, 77 of the 1468 participants without mild cognitive impairment computer used during the same stage of life.
In general, each different type of mentally stimulating activity showed positive effects on brain health:
-Computer use in middle age and later life reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment by 37%.
-Participating in social activities, doing crosswords or playing cards in middle age reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment by 20%.
-Handicraft activities reduced the risk of mild cognitive impairment by 42%, but only in adulthood.
The more mental activities, the better
The researchers found that the amount of brain-stimulating activities also played a key role in the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.Among the people who were part of the study, those who participated in two or more activities saw the greatest benefits, as follows:
-Those who participated in two or three activities were28% and 45%-respectively- less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment compared to those who did not perform any activity.
-Participating in four or five activities reduced the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment in56% and 43% respectively.
Despite the fact that the study had a good number of volunteers, the researchers caution thatresults are based only on individual memoriesabout their participation in mentally stimulating activities in middle age, so more research is needed to confirm the findings.
“Our study wasobservational,so it is important to note that while we found links between a lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and various mental stimulation activities, it is possible that instead of activities that reduce risk, a person with mild cognitive impairment may not be able to participate in these activities so often, “concludes Geda.
Referencia: Quantity and quality of mental activities and the risk of incident mild cognitive impairment. Janina Krell-Roesch, Jeremy A. Syrjanen, Maria Vassilaki, Mary M. Machulda, Michelle M. Mielke, David S. Knopman, Walter K. Kremers, Ronald C. Petersen, Yonas E. Geda First published July 10, 2019, NEUROLOGY DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000007897
