Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; Montclair State University, Department of Psychology, Montclair, NJ, United States.
Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States; Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
Neurobiol Aging. 2024 Jun;138:36-44. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.02.010. Epub 2024 Feb 23.
Greater engagement in cognitively stimulating activities (CSA) during adulthood has been shown to protect against neurocognitive decline, but no studies have investigated whether CSA during childhood protects against effects of brain changes on cognition later in life. The current study tested the moderating role of childhood CSA in the relationships between brain structure and cognitive performance during adulthood. At baseline (N=250) and 5-year follow-up (N=204) healthy adults aged 20-80 underwent MRI to assess four structural brain measures and completed neuropsychological tests to measure three cognitive domains. Participants were categorized into low and high childhood CSA based on self-report questionnaires. Results of multivariable linear regressions analyzing interactions between CSA, brain structure, and cognition showed that higher childhood CSA was associated with a weaker relationship between cortical thickness and memory at baseline, and attenuated the effects of change in cortical thickness and brain volume on decline in processing speed over time. These findings suggest higher CSA during childhood may mitigate the effects of brain structure changes on cognitive function later in life.
成年人更多地参与认知刺激活动（CSA）已被证明可以预防神经认知能力下降，但尚无研究调查儿童时期的 CSA 是否可以预防大脑变化对以后生活中的认知能力的影响。本研究测试了 CSA 在成年期大脑结构和认知表现之间的关系中是否具有调节作用。在基线（N=250）和 5 年随访（N=204）时，年龄在 20-80 岁的健康成年人接受 MRI 检查以评估四个结构脑测量值，并完成神经心理学测试以测量三个认知领域。根据自我报告问卷，参与者被分为 CSA 低和高两个组。分析 CSA、大脑结构和认知之间相互作用的多变量线性回归结果表明，较高的 CSA 与基线时皮质厚度和记忆之间的关系较弱有关，并且随着时间的推移，减弱了皮质厚度和大脑体积变化对处理速度下降的影响。这些发现表明，儿童时期更高的 CSA 可能减轻大脑结构变化对以后生活中认知功能的影响。
