A study published this week in JAMA Neurology adds to the already large body of evidence indicating that people who engage in vigorous mental activity throughout their lives tend to slide more slowly into cognitive impairment than those whose brains sit on the couch eating bonbons.
But it remains uncertain whether “lifetime intellectual enrichment,” as the study authors called it, is cogno-protective in and of itself, as opposed to a surrogate marker for some other protective factor.
The issue is important because clever entrepreneurs are increasingly hawking “brain training” products, billed as helping to prevent age-related cognitive decline, to the worried middle-aged well. Lumosity is the best known but there are many others. The evidence base that these games and mental exercises actually do long-term good is thin at best.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keep CURRENT and up to date, with MS News and Information
Sign-up here: www.msviewsandnews.org
WATCH OUR MS EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS by Topic,
found here: www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews
WATCH OUR MS EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS by Topic,
found here: www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews
.
Visit our MS Learning Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/msviewsandnews
