Playing the piano, foreign travel and socialising with friends are among the most powerful ways to reduce the risk of developing dementia, according to new research from Trinity College Dublin.
The study has found that engaging in physically, socially, and intellectually stimulating activities in middle age is one of the most powerful ways to boost cognition — even for people with increased genetic or familial risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings published recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring, show that cognitive health can be strengthened in midlife with lifestyle interventions that are both accessible and cost-effective.
Prof Lorina Naci from Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute explained: “We have known for some time that lifestyle activities, such as exercise, can stave off cognitive decline in older adults. We were surprised to see that stimulating everyday activities significantly boost cognition in mid-life, decades before age- related cognitive decline sets in.
“Crucially, we saw that bigger benefits came from a mix of different activities, rather than one single one. Our results suggest that variety is key and that a combination of physical, social, and mental stimulation is most effective for boosting brain health.”
The research team analysed data from 700 cognitively healthy adults aged 40-to-59 from across Ireland
and the UK who are participating in a 10-year longitudinal study. One-third of participants carry genetic risk for late-life Alzheimer’s disease.
The study found that a stimulating activity can play a greater role than the strongest common genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease — the Apolipoprotein E ?4 — in shaping cognitive health in mid-life. Put simply, the positive association for cognition found for these lifestyle activities was stronger than the negative association with genetic risk.
This association was found at the participants’ first visit to clinical research facilities for the longitudinal study. Further study of this group of participants over the 10-year study will determine how this positive association evolves over time.
The activities tested included socialising with family or friends, practicing a musical instrument, practicing an artistic pastime, engagement in physical activities, reading, practicing a second language, and travelling.
Depressive symptoms and traumatic brain injury were identified as the most harmful modifiable risk factors for cognition. Other negative contributors to cognition included diabetes, hypertension, poor sleep, and hearing impairment.
Unlike previous research focusing on older adults, this work demonstrates that cognitive reserve can be strengthened decades before disease onset, with lifestyle interventions that are both accessible and cost-effective.
Professor Naci explained: “This reframes brain health as something people can shape through attainable lifestyle choices, encouraging earlier and sustained engagement in enjoyable activities. It also shows that governments who are serious about reducing the future burden of dementia need to prioritise lifestyle mid-life interventions, including mental health support, cardiovascular risk management, brain injury prevention, and access to life-long learning and community engagement programmes.”
