Gow Alan J, Pattie Alison, Deary Ian J
Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology and.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2017 Jan;72(1):25-37. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbw124. Epub 2016 Oct 7.
To examine potential sensitive periods for activity participation across adulthood to reduce cognitive decline and to determine whether associations persist after accounting for the lifetime stability of cognitive ability.
The Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 is a longitudinal study of cognitive aging. Participants were born in 1921 and most completed a mental ability test at the age of 11 years. Cognitive assessments were completed at mean ages 79 (N = 550), 83 (N = 321), 87 (N = 235), and 90 years (N = 129). Participants provided retrospective details of their activity participation for young (20-35 years), mid (40-55 years), and later adulthood (60-75 years), and contemporaneously at age 79.
Associations between activity and the level of, and change in, cognitive ability in old age were examined with latent growth curve models. Accounting for demographics and childhood cognitive ability, engagement in leisure activities in midlife was positively associated with cognitive ability level (path coefficient = .32), whereas higher physical activity in later adulthood was associated with less cognitive decline (.27).
The findings support a lifecourse approach in identifying determinants of cognitive aging; leisure and physical activity during different periods of adulthood may enhance cognitive abilities or reduce decline.
研究成年期参与活动以减少认知衰退的潜在敏感期，并确定在考虑认知能力的终生稳定性后，这些关联是否依然存在。
1921年洛锡安出生队列研究是一项关于认知衰老的纵向研究。参与者出生于1921年，大多数人在11岁时完成了一项智力测试。在平均年龄79岁（N = 550）、83岁（N = 321）、87岁（N = 235）和90岁（N = 129）时完成了认知评估。参与者提供了他们在青年期（20 - 35岁）、中年期（40 - 55岁）和成年后期（60 - 75岁）参与活动的回顾性细节，以及79岁时的同期情况。
用潜在增长曲线模型检验了活动与老年认知能力水平及变化之间的关联。在考虑人口统计学因素和儿童期认知能力后，中年期参与休闲活动与认知能力水平呈正相关（路径系数 = 0.32），而成年后期较高的身体活动与较少的认知衰退相关（0.27）。
研究结果支持采用生命历程方法来确定认知衰老的决定因素；成年期不同阶段的休闲和身体活动可能会提高认知能力或减少衰退。
