For many adults, the mid-30’s is a busy time.
There’s often career advancement, the start of a new family and associated responsibilities.
It’s also a critical time for how we diversify our days in order to stay up to speed.
In a new study, researchers found a key to maintaining cognitive function throughout adulthood is to engage in diverse activities regularly.
The research was conducted by a team from the University of South Florida (USF).
The team focused on seven common daily activities: paid work, time with children, chores, leisure, physical activity, volunteering, and giving informal help.
They reviewed two sets of data from 732 people ranging between the ages of 34 and 84 that were collected by the National Survey of Daily Experiences.
Every day for eight consecutive days, each participant was asked if they partook in those activities and scored on an activity diversity score that captures both the breadth (variety) and evenness (consistency) of activity participation.
The same group was queried ten years later.
The study found those who increased activity diversity over the decade exhibited higher levels of cognitive functioning than those who maintained lower or decreased activity diversity.
The results support the adage to ‘use it or lose it’ and suggest that active and engaged lifestyles with diverse and regular activities are essential for people’s cognitive health.
The team says daily engagement results in greater accumulation of intellectual and social repertoires.
Life experiences, such as educational attainment or leisure activities, can help compensate for progressing Alzheimer’s Disease.
Conversely, a lack of activities or passive behavior, like binge-watching TV, is linked to cognitive decline.
One author of the study is Soomi Lee, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.
The study is published in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
