Contributions of early-life cognitive reserve and late-life leisure activity to successful and pathological cognitive aging

Yiru Yang; Yaojing Chen; Caishui Yang; Kewei Chen; Xin Li; Zhanjun Zhang

doi:10.1186/s12877-022-03530-5

Contributions of early-life cognitive reserve and late-life leisure activity to successful and pathological cognitive aging

BMC Geriatr. 2022 Nov 1;22(1):831. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03530-5.

Authors

Yiru Yang^{1

2

3}, Yaojing Chen^{1

3}, Caishui Yang^{1

3

4}, Kewei Chen^{3

5}, Xin Li^{1

3}, Zhanjun Zhang^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, China.
² School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, China.
³ Beijing Aging Brain Rejuvenation Initiative (BABRI) Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁴ School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
⁵ Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, 85006, USA.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, No.19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, China. zhang_rzs@bnu.edu.cn.
⁷ Beijing Aging Brain Rejuvenation Initiative (BABRI) Centre, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. zhang_rzs@bnu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Background: The identification of factors that specifically influence pathological and successful cognitive aging is a prerequisite for implementing disease prevention and promoting successful aging. However, multi-domain behavioral factors that characterize the difference between successful and pathological cognitive aging are not clear yet.

Methods: A group of community-dwelling older adults (N = 1347, aged 70-88 years) in Beijing was recruited in this cross-sectional study, and a sub-cohort was further divided into successful cognitive aging (SCA, N = 154), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, N = 256), and cognitively normal control (CNC, N = 173) groups. Analyses of variance, regression models with the Shapley value algorithm, and structural equation model (SEM) analyses were conducted to determine specific influencing factors and to evaluate their relative importance and interacting relationships in altering cognitive performance.

Results: We found that abundant early-life cognitive reserve (ECR, including the level of education and occupational attainment) and reduced late-life leisure activity (LLA, including mental, physical, and social activities) were distinct characteristics of SCA and MCI, respectively. The level of education, age, mental activity, and occupational attainment were the top four important factors that explained 31.6% of cognitive variability. By SEM analyses, we firstly found that LLA partially mediated the relationship between ECR and cognition; and further multi-group SEM analyses showed ECR played a more direct role in the SCA group than in the MCI group: in the SCA group, only the direct effect of ECR on cognition was significant, and in the MCI group, direct effects between ECR, LLA and cognition were all significant.

Conclusions: Results of this large-sample community-based study suggest it is important for older adults to have an abundant ECR for SCA, and to keep a high level of LLA to prevent cognitive impairment. This study clarifies the important rankings of behavioral characteristics of cognitive aging, and the relationship that ECR has a long-lasting effect on LLA and finally on cognition, providing efficient guidance for older adults to improve their cognitive function and new evidence to explain the heterogeneity of cognitive aging.

Keywords: Cognitive reserve; Leisure activity; Mild cognitive impairment; Successful cognitive aging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aging / psychology
Cognition
Cognitive Aging*
Cognitive Dysfunction*
Cognitive Reserve*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Leisure Activities