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Leisure Activity May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer’s

Spectrum staff

Participation in leisure activities during early and middle adulthood is related to lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according a team of researchers headed by University of Southern California graduate student Michael Crowe.

“The idea that mental activity is good for the brain is not unlike the idea of ‘use it or lose it’ when it comes to keeping the body fit,” said researcher Ross Andel of the University of South Florida.

Using data from a data base of twins living in Sweden, the researchers analyzed information on like-sexed twins born between 1886 and 1925.

In the 1960s, these twins had filled out questionnaires about their leisure activities, which included reading, social visits, theater and movie going, club and organization participation, gardening and other outdoor activities, and playing sports. They subsequently participated in clinical follow-ups in the 1980s and 1990s, when they where tested for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

In an analysis of 107 of the pairs where one twin was diagnosed with some type of dementia while the co-twin was cognitively intact, the twin who did not develop dementia reported greater overall participation in leisure activities. Moreover, among female twin pairs, the twin who participated frequently in “intellectual-cultural activities” showed a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The difference made by greater overall leisure activity is not explained by differences in either education or similarities found within twin pairs such as early-life environment and, possibly, even genes” Andel said. “However, not all leisure activities may be equally protective.”

The study, funded by the Alzheimer’s Association and the National Institute on Aging, was published in the September issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.