It starts slowly: You can’t find the word that’s on the tip of your tongue; you don’t recognize the new neighbor you met a few days back; you can’t remember what you ate for dinner last night.
Then you notice more problems: You leave the stove burner on after you’ve served a meal; you struggle to remember the date for a major life event, though you’ve always known it; you slip up and tell someone you’re 38 when you’re actually in your 80s. Worst of all, as you’re confusing your age for the year you were born, you actually believe that’s how old you are.
What Predicts Age-Related and Non-Age-Related Cognitive Decline?
A team of researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Michigan asked the question why.What are the causes of age-related and non-age-related cognitive decline?
The data analyzed were from American adults who were born between 1931 and 1941.
Dementia Accounts for Only 41 Percent of Declining Cognitive Function
Researchers found that within the aging population of the United States, dementia only accounted for 41 percent of cognitive decline.But what about the causes of non-dementia-related cognitive decline?
The most important factor appeared to be socioeconomic.
Education Matters
The researchers found that household wealth and income, levels of depression, education, occupation, and race all played a role in predicting cognitive outcomes.Though also important, the participants’ early life conditions, adult behaviors, and co-morbidities did not play as strong a predictive role.
Participants who had good early education and who stayed in school the longest appeared to have the best cognitive health.
Better cognitive functioning at age 54 and slower cognitive decline after that age was positively correlated with higher socioeconomic status.
In other words, those with the best functioning brains tended to have more education, more robust incomes, and more accumulated wealth than participants whose brains were not working as well.
Marriage Protects Your Cognition
The researchers also examined marital status, number of times married, number of living children, religious affiliation, and self-assessed symptoms of depression (via scoring on a Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression assessment).As other longitudinal studies have found, people who were not married did worse cognitively than those who were married.
And being widowed after age 54 appeared to cause steep cognitive declines.
Unhealthy Behaviors Correlated With Cognitive Decline
The researchers also examined “bio-behavioral” factors, including body mass index, smoking, and how much vigorous activity the participants did.Engaging in vigorous exercise improved cognitive functioning in general but did not change the downward trend of age-related cognitive decline over time.
Stay Sharp: Some Takeaways
Although many of their observations about contributions to cognitive decline were statistically significant, the scientists concluded their study with the admission that their research left many questions unanswered.“All the controlled factors only explained 5.6 percent of the variation in age slope at the population level,” they wrote. So the majority of variation in why some people experience cognitive decline more quickly than others “was not explained.”
Brains Have ‘Remarkable Capacity to Adapt and Change’
“Our brains have the remarkable capacity to adapt and change throughout our lives,” Donnie Yance, who is an expert in botanical and nutritional healing, explained on his website.“We can and should maximize our brain health,” Dr. Cammy Benton, an integrative doctor based in Huntersville, North Carolina, said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
Sleep Matters
Benton also believes sleep is important.Botanicals for Brain Health
Like Benton, Yance advocates for using natural compounds to enhance brain health.- Water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri)
- Saffron (Crocus sativus)
- Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
- Green tea (Camellia sinensis)
- Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)
- Olive leaf (Olea europaea)
- Ginseng (Panax ginseng)
- Rhodiola rosea
- Red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza)
- Grapes (Vitis vinifera)
- Horny goat weed (Epimedium)
- Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
Stay in the Game of Life
Dr. Robert Lowry, a neurologist and sports medicine physician based in San Antonio, Texas, also believes that staying physically and mentally active is key.“Stay mentally in the game of life and challenge yourself,” Lowry said in an interview with The Epoch Times. “Keep learning new things—play a musical instrument, travel.”