A study in Nature Communications links specific lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and social contact, to the rate of cognitive decline in European adults.
By Dr. Priyom Bose, Ph.D.Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc.Jul 1 2024 A newly published study in the journal Nature Communications identifies several lifestyle factors that may accelerate cognitive decline.
Typically, research studying the link between cognitive decline and lifestyle patterns primarily utilizes healthy lifestyle indices, which do not consider individual behaviors and assume an equal contribution of all healthy behaviors to cognitive function. As a result, these studies cannot be relied upon solely when designing interventions.
The associations between 16 lifestyle factors and 10-year cognitive decline were studied with respect to episodic memory and verbal fluency. The lifestyle factors included alcohol consumption, smoking, social contact habits, and physical activity. These results are in agreement with previous studies reporting a correlation between low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, smoking, and better cognitive outcomes. The adverse effects of smoking on cognition could be attributed to its negative impact on cardiovascular function.
Social engagement and activity could also provide neuroprotection by mediating the association between cognitive function and brain atrophy. Social bonding could also mediate the association between cognitive function and perceived stress. Additionally, the risk of reverse causality was mitigated by focusing on cognitive decline rather than cross-sectional cognitive performance. Cognitive scores were also standardized to each country, which reduced cross-country differences.
Aging Alcohol Brain Cognitive Function Dementia Exercise Physical Activity Research Sleep Smoking Stress
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