Reading, writing and engaging in activities that stimulate the brain could help preserve memory as people age, according to a study published in Neurology.



“exercising your brain by taking part in activities such as these across a person’s lifetime, from childhood through old age, is important for brain health in old age.”

mental stimulation could limit the debilitating effects of aging on memory.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.





Steven Erikson reading a book
Activities such as reading could help people preserve their memory as they age.
dementia

people who were more mentally active preserved their memory more than those who weren’t.

the rate of decline was 48 percent faster among people who were mentally active infrequently.



people who were mentally active throughout their lives had a much slower rate of decline in memory than those who weren’t







“More frequent cognitive activity across the life span has an association with slower late-life cognitive decline that is independent of common neuropathologic conditions, consistent with the cognitive reserve hypothesis.”