Studies suggest that physical and mental activity sustain thinking skills and postpone dementia.

A new study shows these benefits may vary by gender.

The findings of the study were just published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Neurology.

In the study, researchers looked at the effects of physical and mental activity like reading, attending classes, or playing cards or games, on cognitive reserve.

Cognitive reserve is the protective mechanism that keeps people’s mental faculties sharp even when their brains exhibit the underlying abnormalities linked to dementia and cognitive impairment.

The study’s author, Judy Pa, said, “We found that greater physical activity was associated with greater thinking speed reserve in women, but not in men.” 

Both men and women who engaged in more mental activities had a bigger thinking speed reserve.

Men and women with the same amount of physical activity did not have a better memory reserve.

In total, 758 participants with an average age of 76 took part in the study. Some of them did not have any issues with their thinking or memory, others had mild cognitive impairment, and others had dementia.

Along with taking memory and thinking-speed tests, the subjects had brain scans.

The total volume of the hippocampus, a significant brain region affected by Alzheimer’s disease, as well as other alterations in the brain linked to dementia were compared to people’s performance on thinking tests to determine cognitive reserve.

In addition, participants were surveyed to learn about the amount and severity of their typical weekly physical exercise.

For mental activity, they were asked if, in the last 13 months, they had done any of the following: read magazines, newspapers, or books; went to school; or played cards, games, or bingo.

For each type of activity, they got one point, up to a maximum of three points.

Participants scored 1.4 points on average for mental activity. Participants engaged in heart-pumping exercises like brisk walking and biking for at least 15 minutes each week as part of their physical activity requirements.

According to Pa, every additional mental activity participants engaged in prevented their thinking and processing skills from aging by 13 years, or 17 years for males and 10 years for women.

“As we have arguably few-to-no effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, prevention is crucial. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment,” Pa added. “To know that people could potentially improve their cognitive reserve by taking simple steps such as going to classes at the community center, playing bingo with their friends or spending more time walking or gardening is very exciting.”

According to Pa, a doubling of physical activity would be equivalent to an estimated 2.75 fewer years of aging when it comes to women’s processing speed and reasoning skills, based on the effect sizes shown in the study.

Researchers also investigated if the APOE e4 gene, which has the highest risk for Alzheimer’s disease, had an impact on the connection between mental and physical exercise and cognitive reserve.

They discovered that carrying the gene reduces the impact of the favorable link between physical and mental activity and cognitive reserve in women.

The study doesn’t prove that physical and mental activities help improve cognitive reserve. It only shows that there is a link.

One of the limitations of the study was that participants were asked to report their own physical and mental activity; as a result, it is possible that they did not remember details accurately.

Additionally, the study did not examine structural or cultural variables like schooling that have an impact on cognitive reserve.

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