Previous studies evaluating the association between leisure activities and cognitive function produced conflicting results. Different types of leisure activities may have different effects on ...cognition, and very few studies have explored their bidirectional associations. Our study aimed to explore whether intellectual and social activities had bidirectional associations with cognitive function among the middle-aged and elderly adults in China.
Data was derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The data in this study were based on 11,549 participants aged 45 or older whose intellectual and social activities and cognitive function were assessed at baseline. Cross-lagged panel model was used to examine the temporal relationship of intellectual and social activities with cognitive function.
Totally, 5624 participants completed the third follow-up in 2018. The results showed that the better the cognitive function they had at baseline, the more intellectual activities they were engage in (β = 0.044, P < 0.001) and vice versa (β = 0.042, P = 0.001). Additionally, better cognitive function at baseline was significantly associated with more engagement in social activities (β = 0.028, P = 0.030); in contrast, higher engagement in social activities at baseline was not related to better cognitive function (β = −0.008, P = 0.523).
Engagement in social and intellectual activities was assessed via questionnaire.
Our findings indicated that there was a bidirectional relationship between intellectual activities and cognitive function. However, participation in social activities did not slow down the decline in cognitive function. Participating in intellectual activities, compared to social activities, is especially beneficial for cognitive function.
•There was a bidirectional relationship between intellectual activities and cognitive function.•Participation in social activities did not slow down the decline in cognitive function.•Decreased cognitive function led to reduced participation in social activities.•Participating in intellectual activities, compared to social activities, is especially beneficial for cognitive function.•Early-life intervention strategies targeting causal factors to improve cognition are emphasized.
Abstract
In the spring of 1992, the city of Sarajevo was surrounded by nationalist Serb troops and bombarded with shells, bullets, and terror for four long years. Isolated from the world, Sarajevans ...found a refuge and a freedom that took them beyond their circumstances: they read, they wrote, and they survived. This paper examines how these activities impacted the mental, physical, and spiritual survival of Sarajevans during the war. Diaries, memoirs, personal histories, letter collections, and oral histories are analyzed for what they may reveal about the value of reading and writing during this time of crisis. What we learn from these accounts is that even during the most trying times, activities such as reading and writing give us a space for control and self-preservation. This paper strives to learn about the power of literacy and writing from those who faced adversity in war-torn Sarajevo.
Active participation in intellectual leisure activities such as calligraphy helps prevent cognitive decline and dementia, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. With disrupted ...functional connectivity (FC) of default mode network (DMN) associated with cognitive decline, we speculate that intellectual activities might optimize cognitive function through modulating FC of DMN. This two-arm single-blind randomized controlled trial aims to identify the effects of increasing practice of calligraphy on cognitive function and FC of DMN in people with subjective cognitive decline (SCD).
One hundred twelve community-living Chinese aged 55 to 75 years old with SCD but without mild cognitive impairment or dementia and with prior practice of calligraphy as defined by 1 h of calligraphy per week will be recruited through elderly social centres in Hong Kong and randomized into either control or intervention group. The control group will continue with their usual practice of calligraphy, whereas the intervention group will double their practice of calligraphy. Measurement of cognitive outcomes and neuroimaging on resting-state FC will be performed at baseline and in 6 months. Repeated measures analysis of variance will be used to assess cognitive and FC changes, with time being the within-group factor, control/intervention as the between-group measure, and important covariates (age, sex, educational and occupational attainment, health, and other lifestyle factors) controlled for.
This study will shed light on the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of how intellectual activities promotes cognitive maintenance. Our anticipated findings will provide evidence that reversing or slowing FC disruption by actively participating in intellectual activities is still possible for the at-risk individuals.
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900024433 . Registered on 11 July 2019.
population ageing will lead to a leap in the dementia population in Asia. However, information about potentials for low-cost and low-risk interventions is limited.
to study the associations between ...lifestyle activities and global cognition from the Cognitive and Lifestyle Activity Study for Seniors in Asia (CLASSA).
a cross-sectional study.
we studied the association between global cognition and lifestyle activity participation in community living older adults (60 years or over) across nine sites in East Asia. A standardised lifestyle activity questionnaire exploring activities from four categories (intellectual, physical, social and recreational) was used to measure the pattern. Global cognition was categorised by locally validated versions of Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (good cognition, GC-scored at the top 25% among participants with no significant cognitive deficit (SCD); normal cognition, NC-middle 50% among participants with no SCD; mild cognitive deficit, MCD-lowest 25% among participants with no SCD; SCD-below local cut-offs for dementia).
two thousand four hundred and four (1,009 men; 1,395 women) participants were recruited. The mean age was 71.0 (7.2) years. A higher variety of intellectual and physical activities were associated with GC; more social activities were associated with higher risks of having impaired cognition (multinomial logistic regression). The same association was found in participants with no SCD and had regular activities for over 10 years (n = 574).
intellectual activity and physical exercise were associated with better cognitive states in Asian older adults. Community-based intervention may take considerations into specific types of activities to optimise cognition.
As higher mental demands at work are associated with lower dementia risk and a key symptom of dementia is hippocampal atrophy, the study aimed at investigating the association between mental demands ...at work and hippocampal volume. We analyzed data from the population-based LIFE-Adult-Study in Leipzig, Germany (
= 1,409, age 40-80). Hippocampal volumes were measured
three-dimensional Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; 3D MP-RAGE) and mental demands at work were classified
the O*NET database. Linear regression analyses adjusted for gender, age, education, APOE e4-allele, hypertension, and diabetes revealed associations between higher demands in "language and knowledge," "information processing," and "creativity" at work on larger white and gray matter volume and better cognitive functioning with "creativity" having stronger effects for people not yet retired. Among retired individuals, higher demands in "pattern detection" were associated with larger white matter volume as well as larger hippocampal subfields CA2/CA3, suggesting a retention effect later in life. There were no other relevant associations with hippocampal volume. Our findings do not support the idea that mental demands at work protect cognitive health
hippocampal volume or brain volume. Further research may clarify through what mechanism mentally demanding activities influence specifically dementia pathology in the brain.
A popular explanation for the small number of women at the top level of intellectually demanding activities from chess to science appeals to biological differences in the intellectual abilities of ...men and women. An alternative explanation is that the extreme values in a large sample are likely to be greater than those in a small one. Although the performance of the 100 best German male chess players is better than that of the 100 best German women, we show that 96 per cent of the observed difference would be expected given the much greater number of men who play chess. There is little left for biological or cultural explanations to account for. In science, where there are many more male than female participants, this statistical sampling explanation, rather than differences in intellectual ability, may also be the main reason why women are under-represented at the top end.
The human nature reveals itself in the trinity of his biological, social and cultural essence. The cultural component allows the man to express himself in the existing world. Music, a symbolic system ...culturally defined, preserves the creative contributions and transforms or develops them by using cognitive process, personal traits and motivation. The educational activity in considered a cultural activity.
This article attempts to consider the extension of the joint property of spouses in intellectual property rights based on intellectual property in respect of which there are these rights. In ...particular, the author finds some unsettled property relations between spouses, in connection with which the autor proposes to amend the legislation.
Prime Minister decided on "R&D Basic Plan on SOFT science and Technology" on January 11, 1993. SOFT Science and Technology becomes important as comprehensive science and technology by merging the ...knowledge and techniques of both the natural science and cultural or social science. The plan describes (1)Basic concept for promoting R&D on SOFT science and technology, (2) Important R&D theme, R&D for supporting the enhancement of intellectual activities, R&D for enhancing amenity of living environment through the clarification of characteristics of Sensitivity, R&D for making the Hardware harmonized with Human Being, and so on, (3)Policies for Promoting R&D, research interchange in a broad range covering natural science and cultural and social science. arrangement of R&D Center, and so on.
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