Weaver Alexandria N, Jaeggi Susanne M
School of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 11;12:620867. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.620867. eCollection 2021.
Research supporting cognitive reserve theory suggests that engaging in a variety of cognitive, social, and physical activities may serve as protective factors against age-related changes in mental functioning, especially if the activities are cognitively engaging. Individuals who participate in a variety of cognitive activities have been found to be more likely to maintain a higher level of cognitive functioning and be less likely to develop dementia. In this study, we explore the relationship between engaging in a variety of activities and cognitive performance amongst 206 healthy older adults between the ages of 65-85. Age and years of education were found to be the most significant predictors of a global composite representing cognitive performance, consistent with previous work linking these variables to age-related changes in cognition and the cognitive reserve. We interpret these results to suggest that age and education are better predictors of global cognitive performance in older adults than self-reported activity engagement.
支持认知储备理论的研究表明，参与各种认知、社交和体育活动可能作为针对与年龄相关的心理功能变化的保护因素，特别是如果这些活动具有认知挑战性。已发现参与各种认知活动的个体更有可能维持较高水平的认知功能，并且患痴呆症的可能性较小。在本研究中，我们探讨了206名年龄在65 - 85岁之间的健康老年人参与各种活动与认知表现之间的关系。年龄和受教育年限被发现是代表认知表现的总体综合指标的最重要预测因素，这与之前将这些变量与与年龄相关的认知变化和认知储备联系起来的研究一致。我们对这些结果的解释是，对于老年人的总体认知表现而言，年龄和教育程度比自我报告的活动参与情况是更好的预测指标。
