Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Psychol Aging. 2013 Dec;28(4):1004-14. doi: 10.1037/a0034838.
Cognitive activity is thought to provide some protection against dementia, but the mechanism and timing of these effects are unknown. Data for this study were drawn from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP), an at-risk middle-aged sample (mean age = 54 years) enriched for parental family history of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We had two main aims: (a) to determine the relative contribution of three facets of cognitive activity-education, occupational complexity with data, and cognitive leisure activities-to WRAP participants' cognitive performance; and (b) to assess for interactions between genetic risk factors and cognitive activity in explaining cognitive performance. Results from mixed effects models indicate that some of the variance usually attributed to education may be more closely accounted for by cognitive activities later in life. Overall, our analyses suggest cautious optimism for cognitive activities, especially game playing, as a strategy for preserving cognitive strengths in midlife.
认知活动被认为可以提供一定程度的保护，防止痴呆，但这些影响的机制和时机尚不清楚。本研究的数据来自威斯康星州阿尔茨海默病预防登记处（WRAP），这是一个处于风险中的中年样本（平均年龄=54 岁），其特征是父母有阿尔茨海默病（AD）家族史。我们有两个主要目标：（a）确定认知活动的三个方面——教育、数据处理的职业复杂性和认知休闲活动——对 WRAP 参与者认知表现的相对贡献；（b）评估遗传风险因素与认知活动之间的相互作用，以解释认知表现。混合效应模型的结果表明，教育通常归因于认知活动的一些差异可能更多地归因于以后的生活中的认知活动。总的来说，我们的分析表明，认知活动，尤其是游戏，作为一种保持中年认知优势的策略，应该谨慎乐观。
