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The Impact of Sustained Engagement on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: The Synapse Project
Abstract and Figures
In the research reported here, we tested the hypothesis that sustained engagement in learning new skills that activated working memory, episodic memory, and reasoning over a period of 3 months would enhance cognitive function in older adults. In three conditions with high cognitive demands, participants learned to quilt, learned digital photography, or engaged in both activities for an average of 16.51 hr a week for 3 months. Results at posttest indicated that episodic memory was enhanced in these productive-engagement conditions relative to receptive-engagement conditions, in which participants either engaged in nonintellectual activities with a social group or performed low-demand cognitive tasks with no social contact. The findings suggest that sustained engagement in cognitively demanding, novel activities enhances memory function in older adulthood, but, somewhat surprisingly, we found limited cognitive benefits of sustained engagement in social activities.
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... MBE also emphasises the importance of lifelong education and cognitive health, particularly in older adults. Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities and continuous education can significantly benefit cognitive function and overall brain health [10]. Healthy ageing and maintaining cognitive health are crucial for the quality of life in h t t p s : / / w w w . ...
... These institutions offer opportunities for seniors to continue learning, stay mentally active, and socially connected, which are essential factors in cognitive health maintenance [13,14]. Research indicates that participation in educational activities can positively impact cognitive function and delay the onset of cognitive decline [10,15]. Given the intersection of neuroscience, education, and ageing, it is essential to understand the prevalence of neuromyths among senior citizens and their attitudes towards cognitive health. ...
Neuroscience has witnessed profound scientific and technological advancements over recent decades, transforming our understanding of the brain and leading to significant improvements in both diagnosing and treating neurological disorders. This field of knowledge is an exciting topic for researchers and health professionals, psychologists, educators, and even the general public. The rapid expansion and the complexities of neurosciences have also led to the emergence and spread of several neuromyths. These myths concern various misconceptions or unfounded beliefs arising from incorrect
interpretations of neuroscience research and its application in educational settings or other areas. Healthy ageing and maintaining cognitive health are pivotal aspects of life quality
in senior populations. As the importance of lifelong education is recognised worldwide, educational endeavours in the form of senior universities play a crucial role in supporting an active and engaged elderly community. This study investigates the prevalence of neuromyths among senior citizens enrolled at senior universities and analyses which attitudes they adopt to maintain their cognitive health. To achieve that purpose, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 64 senior citizens (n=64) enrolled in two senior universities from urban areas in the northern region of Portugal. The questionnaire covered prevalent neuromyths, such as the belief in using only 10% of the brain and other diet-related and cognitive function misconceptions. The results indicate the prevalence of some neuromyths in Portuguese senior citizens attending senior universities. Nevertheless, participants demonstrated some knowledge regarding
practices that contribute to good cognitive health. These findings highlight the need for educational outreach and public engagement initiatives by neuroscientists, educators, or
science communicators, which can help to demystify brain science and dispel popular neuromyths. By fostering a better understanding of how the brain actually works, we can
ensure that the benefits of neuroscience advancements are more fully realised across society and empower individuals to make informed decisions about their cognitive health and well-being.
... Engagement with moderate to complex activities for a long period promotes intellectual and thinking capabilities among individuals and thus, supports cognition [41]. Employment is one such activity where a person spends 6-8 h daily, 5-6 days a week, and is engaged for a considerable period of his lifetime. ...
Cognitive health gradually declines with ageing, although the pace of decline varies across individuals due to their physiological and socioeconomic attributes. Employment including technical and complex tasks may ensure cognitive reserves, although it also differs between men and women. The study aims to assess the role of employment in the cognitive health of elder women across three age groups—46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years. The study is based on the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) wave 1 (2020) with a sample size of 62,379 of which 33,137 (53.12%) are women. The result shows a faster decline of cognition among women than men in all age groups. The cognition index among women aged 46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years fell at a faster rate of 1.07, 1.40, and 1.67 respectively than men in respective age groups. The study further shows the decline in cognitive health occurs in both employed and unemployed women, but such decline is marginally higher among employed women than unemployed one in all age groups. Employed women aged 46–55 years, 56–65 years, and more than 65 years, experience a decline in cognitive index by the faster rate of 0.09, 0.02, and 0.16 than unemployed women from the respective age groups. It means, employment negatively affects women’s cognitive health. In contrast, the employment slows down the decline of cognition among men. Thus, employment affects the cognitive health of elder men and women differently. Higher participation of women in unskilled/manual jobs, low socioeconomic attributes, and gender-based discrimination are a few major reasons for the poor cognitive health of elder women.
... Given these properties, observational drawing could provide both cognitive engagement and mental wellbeing in older adulthood. Importantly, novel and enjoyable activities are a key component of successful cognitive aging (Park et al., 2014). Studies with young adults suggest that training drawing skills can enhance fluid cognitive processes and such potential improvements are particularly useful in older adulthood Sorby, 1999). ...
Engagement in the arts has shown promise as a nonpharmacological approach for mitigating age-related cognitive decline. In this study, we report on feasibility and acceptability of a remote and self-administered observational drawing intervention that deliberately engages cognition, including spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination, and awareness of the present moment. Thirty-four participants aged 65-87 completed our randomized controlled trial. The training consisted of 10 online lessons and daily practice in which participants acquired drawing techniques that improved their drawing skills by > 0.5 SD (d = 1.27). Over 80% who completed the course rated it positively and found the online format accessible, although we observed considerable attrition (47%). Baseline drawing skills were related to mental transformation (r = 0.47), yet transfer to cognitive stills at post-test was limited. Intervention-related improvements emerged in mindfulness (d(net) = 0.81). Our study illustrates that drawing skills can be improved in older adulthood and highlights the potential of visual arts training in promoting cognition and wellbeing.
... The Neuroplasticity hypothesis posits that the brain's function and structure can be changed as a result of responding to external stimuli (7)(8)(9). Building upon this theory, the Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I-CONECT, ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT02871921) conducted a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of delivering interpersonal interactions through online conversation sessions as external stimuli to delay cognitive decline in socially isolated older old participants, i.e., those at high risk of cognitive decline and incident dementia (10,11). ...
Background
Socially isolated individuals tend to have less access to cognitively stimulating activities, which could adversely impact their cognitive health. The Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I-CONECT) intervention was designed to deliver online conversation sessions to socially isolated older old adults to prevent cognitive decline. The current study examined the intervention efficacy on participants’ weekly time spent out-of-home and their social interaction with family and friends.
Methods
The intervention group engaged in frequent conversations with trained interviewers via the Internet. Both intervention and control group participants received 10-min weekly phone check-in calls over 48 weeks, during which they were asked to self-report their time (in hours) spent out of home and whether they had contacted family or friends during this week (yes/no). Linear mixed-effect models for repeated measures were run for time spent out-of-home, and mixed-effect models with a logistic link for contact with family and friends. The intervention effect was modeled by including an interaction term of time (measured in weeks) and group assignments (intervention vs. control). We ran subgroup analyses for participants with normal cognition (NC) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). All models controlled for age, sex, race, education, and the historical event of COVID-19.
Results
5,495 weekly records were included in the analysis. The main effect of time was statistically significant (p < 0.001), suggesting participants spent more time out of home over time. Among the participants with NC, the intervention group had a steeper increase in their time spent out-of-home (p = 0.016) compared with the control group. Among the participants with MCI, the intervention group had an increased likelihood of contacting friends over time (p = 0.001) than the control group. The intervention effect on contact with family was not significant for either the NC or MCI group.
Discussion
The I-CONECT intervention enhanced social activities among socially isolated older old participants, which could provide additional cognitive stimulation and prevent cognitive decline.
... P value is from coefficient comparing each tertile group to lowest tertile (ie, reference group). Abbreviations: AFT, accelerated failure time; CI, confidence interval; MCI, mild cognitive impairment.value of social activity as a possible community-level intervention for reducing dementia.Indeed, several small-scale (<300 participants), short-term (3 to 10 months) randomized trials provided preliminary evidence regarding the efficacy of social activity for improving cognition.[29][30][31] These trials also demonstrate the feasibility of interventions, for example, group meetings facilitated by trained professionals as a candidate intervention. ...
INTRODUCTION
Social activity is associated with better cognitive health in old age. To better translate epidemiological research for public health communication, we estimated relations of levels of social activity to average age at dementia onset.
METHODS
In the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), we followed 1923 dementia‐free older adults and conducted annual clinical evaluations of dementia/mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
RESULTS
During a mean follow‐up of 6.7 (SD = 4.7) years, 545 participants developed dementia, and 695 developed MCI. Using Accelerated Failure Time models adjusted for age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, and marital status, we found predicted mean age of dementia onset for the least socially active was 87.7 years, approximately 5 years earlier than the most socially active (mean age = 92.2, p < .01); we found a similar 5‐year difference in age at MCI onset by social activity.
DISCUSSION
Our findings highlight the value of social activity as a possible community‐level intervention for reducing dementia.
Highlights
Accelerated failure time models estimated age at dementia onset by social activity level to aid interpretation.
Higher social activity was associated with a 5‐year older age at dementia onset.
Economic research shows a 5‐year delay translates to US$500,000 of healthcare savings per capita.
Our findings help understand the public health significance of social activity.
... Daily busyness levels have shown age-related declines, such that, on average, individuals aged 60-89 were significantly less busy than 20-49-year-olds, with 30-year-olds exhibiting peak busyness (Festini et al., 2019). Although experimental manipulations of busyness are still lacking (Festini, 2022), from inferences based on existing correlational busyness research (Festini et al., 2016) and experimental manipulations of new learning (Carlson et al., 2009;Chan et al., 2014;McDonough et al., 2015;Park et al., 2014), those older adults who maintain a busy lifestyle may experience cognitive benefits, including preserved episodic memory. Indeed, higher levels of busyness were correlated with greater participation in novel activities, higher need for cognition, more years of education, more frequent social activities, and greater participation in hobbies (Festini et al., 2019). ...
Cognitive reserve (CR) and busyness can boost memory, whereas stress can impair memory. Nevertheless, extant research has not yet examined busyness in conjunction with CR and stress, nor whether CR or stress moderate the relationship between busyness and episodic memory. Middle-aged and older adult participants (N = 71; ages 50–74; 31% African-American) answered lifestyle questionnaires and completed a visual paired-associate memory fMRI task. Dimension reduction techniques identified two latent CR factors—personal CR (own education; occupation complexity; socioeconomic status) and parental education (mother’s/father’s education), and identified two latent stress factors—external stress (neighborhood stress/violence; financial strain) and personal stress (perceived stress; work/personal stress). We cast these latent factors into a series of regression models, revealing that (1) in isolation, higher busyness predicted better episodic memory, (2) higher external stress predicted worse memory, (3) both greater personal CR and greater parental education predicted better memory, (4) busyness did not interact with stress nor with CR, and (5) in a combined model, higher parental education and lower external stress were significant independent predictors. Neuroimaging data revealed that higher CR was associated with more efficient brain activity in the hippocampus and posterior cingulate during successful episodic memory retrieval, whereas higher personal stress was associated with heightened activity in the precuneus. No interactions or main effects of busyness were observed for the fMRI data. Thus, although busyness was associated with superior episodic memory, busyness did not modulate brain activity during episodic memory retrieval, nor did CR or stress moderate the relationship between busyness and associative memory.
... Additionally, the cognitive training tasks are often perceived as unfamiliar, boring and tedious by participants, particularly older adults with decreased cognitive motivation. In contrast, LA are generally regarded as relaxing and enjoyable, and participants tend to engage in with higher levels of enthusiasm and compliance, making it more acceptable for older adults (Cheng et al., 2014;Park et al., 2014). ...
Although there is evidence that cognitive training enhances logical reasoning among the elderly, it remains unclear whether cognitive leisure activities (LA), which are inherently enjoyable and more accessible to older adults than cognitive training, can also improve their reasoning performance. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of cognitive LA on reasoning performance among the elderly and further explored the potential mechanism underlying this relationship. 107 elder participants from the community university for the elderly were randomized into two intervention groups (mahjong group N = 34, chess groups N = 33) and the control group (N = 40). Subjects in the intervention groups received activity sessions three times a week for 6 weeks, while those in the control group received regular physical and mental health care sessions. Need for cognition (NFC) was evaluated using the NFC scale before the study and then after intervention administration. Additionally, all participants were tasked to completing a syllogistic reasoning task after the intervention to evaluating their reasoning performances. Results showed that the intervention groups performed better than the control group in the syllogistic reasoning task. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the scores of NFC between the intervention groups and control group in the pretest, while the scores of NFC of the intervention groups were significantly higher than those of the control group in the posttest. Mediation analysis revealed that NFC mediated the effect of cognitive LA on reasoning performances among the elderly. We concluded that participating in cognitive LA represent a potential avenue for enhancing reasoning performances among older adults by boosting their cognitive motivation.
Historic shifts in age demographics are reshaping societies and challenging institutions of higher education to respond to aging populations through new approaches to teaching, research, and community engagement. Student populations are also becoming more age diverse, with adults looking to higher education for lifelong learning opportunities to enhance their personal and professional development as they age. Age-friendly campuses can also create opportunities to support age diversity beyond the physical campus environment and generate an impact that extends into neighboring communities. The call for higher education to be more age inclusive warrants a guiding framework and set of principles such as those provided by the pioneering Age-Friendly University (AFU) initiative. Empirical tools are also needed to help institutions distinguish and evaluate age-friendly practices and appraise the perspectives of students, faculty, and staff, as well as identify gaps and opportunities for growth. This chapter looks at the expanding need for age-friendly campuses, describes the utility of recent empirical approaches, and makes the case for building broader campus-community connections to deepen and sustain the emerging age-friendly ecosystem and address ageism.
Cognitive control is defined by a set of neural processes that allow us to interact with our complex environment in a goal-directed manner. Humans regularly challenge these control processes when attempting to simultaneously accomplish multiple goals (multitasking), generating interference as the result of fundamental information processing limitations. It is clear that multitasking behaviour has become ubiquitous in today's technologically dense world, and substantial evidence has accrued regarding multitasking difficulties and cognitive control deficits in our ageing population. Here we show that multitasking performance, as assessed with a custom-designed three-dimensional video game (NeuroRacer), exhibits a linear age-related decline from 20 to 79 years of age. By playing an adaptive version of NeuroRacer in multitasking training mode, older adults (60 to 85 years old) reduced multitasking costs compared to both an active control group and a no-contact control group, attaining levels beyond those achieved by untrained 20-year-old participants, with gains persisting for 6 months. Furthermore, age-related deficits in neural signatures of cognitive control, as measured with electroencephalography, were remediated by multitasking training (enhanced midline frontal theta power and frontal-posterior theta coherence). Critically, this training resulted in performance benefits that extended to untrained cognitive control abilities (enhanced sustained attention and working memory), with an increase in midline frontal theta power predicting the training-induced boost in sustained attention and preservation of multitasking improvement 6 months later. These findings highlight the robust plasticity of the prefrontal cognitive control system in the ageing brain, and provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of how a custom-designed video game can be used to assess cognitive abilities across the lifespan, evaluate underlying neural mechanisms, and serve as a powerful tool for cognitive enhancement.
A new test of verbal learning and memory, the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, was developed. The test consists of three trials of free-recall of a 12-item, semantically categorized list, followed by yes/no recognition. Six parallel forms yielded equivalent results in normals. The performance of patients with Alzheimer's disease and chronic amnesia is described. The test is likely to be useful in patients too impaired for more comprehensive memory assessments and where repeated testing is necessary.
This chapter summarizes the Turkish standardization of the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM). The only tests of intelligence or general mental ability in Turkey prior to SPM were the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and Stanford-Binet Scale of Intelligence. Both have been widely used in Turkey, especially in health institutions and schools. A Turkish adaptation and standardization of WISC-R had been realized in eighties (Savasir and Sahin, 1988). Although no broadly based adaptation of the Stanford-Binet Scale has been undertaken, clinicians rely on their accumulated experience in interpreting the scores and they use it as a signaling apparatus rather than a measurement device. As a result, the absence of national norms does not appear to be a practical disadvantage although the test increasingly fails to meet the needs of the clinicians with regard to ever increasing complexity of multi-channel information and the test itself has not been brought up to date.
Research findings in recent years from both animal models and on human learners converge clearly on the conclusion that there is plasticity in brain and behavior throughout the adult life span. This chapter considers the different types of interventions that vary in the extent to which they involve direct exercise of target outcomes, from retest effects that are highly specific to target outcomes, to ability-specific training of different sorts, to lifestyle interventions that may only be tangentially related to measured outcomes. It also describes challenges for developing evidence-based principles of cognitive optimization that can be authentically translated into programs and social structures with potential to instantiate successful aging as a cultural norm. Thus, it serves both the practical function of informing the creation of evidence-based programs with potential to promote independence, social engagement, and continued participation in work and in civic institutions, as well as the scientific function of testing theories of cognitive aging.