Can reading and “mental exercises” help reduce risk?

To start, DTM speak with Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osmanvice president of interventional therapy at Linus Health and volunteer assistant professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

She said cognitively stimulating activities such as reading and crossword puzzles reduce the risk of dementia and boost cognition by increasing cognitive reservewhich she compared to the size of her mental library.

“Everything we learn and know is like a book on a shelf. As new books are added, the library gets bigger and bigger. But why is it important, you might ask? Well, building a library of information in your brain creates a buffer for memory loss,” she said.

“When your library is large, even if many books are borrowed, there will still be plenty of other books on the shelves, serving as alternatives and keeping the library running smoothly,” she added.

She explained that cognitive reserve develops throughout life through education and life experiences, especially those that are challenging and thought-provoking.

In a recent study — published in 2022 in Neurology– researchers have studied how childhood cognitive skills, level of education and leisure activities affect cognitive reserve.

They followed 1,184 people from the UK from infancy until the age of 69, when the participants undertook a cognitive test with a maximum score of 100.

Ultimately, the researchers found that people with a bachelor’s degree or higher tended to score an average of 1.22 points higher than those with no formal education. Those who participated in six or more leisure activities, such as education classes, volunteer work and social activities, scored an average of 1.53 points higher than those who participated in just four of these activities .

Meanwhile, those in professional or mid-level jobs scored 1.5 points or more on average than those in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. They also found that people with higher reading ability experienced slower cognitive decline than those with lower reading ability.

“Just as our physical bodies can become deformed and underperform, our brains can also become deconditioned,” Dr Robert Wigginsa Novant Health neurologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, said DTM.

“Challenging our cognitive abilities safely, as long as it doesn’t lead to frustration, is healthy and will even improve our confidence and sense of independence. Although a 70-year-old may not have the cognition they had at 20, challenging her mind might help her feel more like she did at 50.

– Dr. Robert Wiggins

“Mental exercises” solicit several parts of the brain

DTM also spoke with Dr David Hunter, assistant professor of neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He noted that research indicates that even patients with advanced dementia can benefit from what he calls “mental exercise” — anything that engages multiple parts of the brain at once.

“Reading, puzzles, art, conversation, games and work are just a few examples. Really, the only rule is that sitting around watching TV doesn’t count,” he said.

He added that coloring books, music, word searches and simple conversation are also possibilities if patients can no longer participate in their old hobbies.

While experts agree that a person’s cognitive reserve is important in helping them preserve thinking skills, they also point out that there are limits to what we can increase this reserve through “mental exercises”. “.

Raphael Walddoctor of psychology and certified neuropsychologist at the Baptist Health Marcus Neuroscience Institute, said DTM:

“People with a high IQ tend to live better with dementia because there is more cognitive reserve. However, once dementia sets in, one cannot overcome the degenerative process by performing cognitive tasks like crossword puzzles, but this can slow down the process somewhat.

DTM also spoke with Dr. Karen D. Lincolnprofessor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of California at Irvine.

She noted that while some evidence suggests that cognitive exercises like crossword puzzles or word games slow cognitive decline in people with mild cognitive impairment, the evidence is inconclusive.

“These types of activities are important for stimulating the brain, but puzzles alone do not necessarily improve cognitive abilities or reduce the risk of dementia. […] We need to consider our entire vascular system as a whole rather than separating them into individual parts,” she noted.

Dr. Gomes-Osman agreed that relying solely on intellectually stimulating activities is not enough to reduce the risk of dementia. She noted that the most “forward-looking” research in the field shows that the greatest improvements in thinking skills and reduced dementia risk occur when multiple healthy behaviors are targeted.

What are the 12 modifiable risk factors for dementia?

To share the behaviors to target, Dr. Gomes-Osman referred to the 2020 report Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care.

The report highlighted 12 modifiable risk factors that account for 40% of dementia cases:

1. a person’s level of education
2. their level of social contact
3. hearing impairment
4. exercise routine
5. symptoms of depression
6. alcohol consumption
7. midlife obesity
8. exposure to air pollution
9. smoking habits
10. head injuries
11. hypertension (high blood pressure)
12. diabetes.

The researchers behind the report noted that acting on these factors can reduce the risk of dementia by reducing neuropathological damage – such as tau buildup and inflammation – increasing and maintaining cognitive reserve, or both.

“Just to give an idea, if we took all these steps today, we would reduce more than a third of dementia cases next year,” said Dr Gomes-Osman.

“It’s important to emphasize that even if you already suffer from memory loss, learning something new can improve your brain health. Challenging your mind by learning something new will boost your memory, attention and thinking skills and improve your quality of life,” said Dr. Gomes-Osman.

She added that creating pleasurable new experiences and seeing new things could also help improve brain health.

“Our brain responds very well to novelty, so choosing something that’s neither too easy nor too difficult is key here,” she noted.

“Change where you do things you love. Seeing different places can increase your positive outlook on life and improve your brain health,” Dr. Gomes-Osman suggested.

“For example, if you usually walk, try walking in a different place. You can also take a different route to work or to another grocery store. Even figuring out where the milk aisle is in different stores will have you solving problems in a way that challenges your brain. Try not to let a day go by without getting around and seeing something different.

– Dr. Joyce Gomes-Osman

Dr Lincoln added “[a] special note for African Americans, who are at the highest risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the United States.

“[I]If you enjoy playing dominoes, spades or bidding whist, you are actually engaging in healthy brain exercises,” he said. “Not necessarily because the games are very difficult and require a good memory, but because the game is played with others. Social engagement is good for the brain!