Summary: A new 16 -year study of more than 10,000 adults finds that the greatest well -being is linked to the best memory performance in the middle age. The researchers tracked the psychological well -being and the memory of the memory of the participants, discovering that those with greater satisfaction with life were more likely to retain a stronger cognitive function over time.
This effect persisted even after adjusting depression, which suggests a unique link between the well -being and health of the brain. The results add to the growing evidence that mental and emotional health can play a key role in the protection of memory and delay cognitive deterioration.
Key facts:
Sustained link: the greatest psychological well -being predicted better memory scores, even 16 years later. Independent of depression: the welfare-condition connection maintained even after adjusting the depressive symptoms.
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
The highest levels of well -being can help reduce the risk of medium -sized memory loss, it suggests new research, which tracked more than 10,000 over 50 years in a period of 16 years.
The results published today, in the magazine reviewed by peers, AGING & Mental Health, discovered that those who said they had greater well -being were more likely to have better scores in memory tests.
These people, all of which were determined by having ‘healthy brains’, also reported a greater sense of control, independence and freedom to make decisions.
This association between psychological well -being and the best retirement was small but significant. The link was also independent of depressive symptoms, according to researchers.
However, the analysis carried out by a cohort of 15 experts throughout the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain did not find evidence that suggested that a better memory was linked to greater subsequent well -being, although the authors say that the possibility cannot be ruled out.
Academics add that the results highlight that psychological and social factors affect brain health, and well -being can protect against cognitive deterioration. Interventions to promote psychological well -being, such as full attention, could maintain mental functions such as memory as people age.
“In the context of a population that ages, the factors of understanding that can protect and maintain a healthy cognitive function is essential for a better development of the health and health of the population of the population,” explains the main author, Dr. Amber John, a professor of psychology at the University of Liverpool and the research of the United Kingdom of Alzheimer neurodivera and dementia and dementia.
“Although, in this research, we cannot examine and understand the relationship between causes and effects, determining whether an event leads to another (causality), our findings are important to propose that good well -being prior to a better memory instead of vice versa.
“This suggests that the link between well -being and memory is not only because people with poor memory have poor well -being and that, if causality is demonstrated, improving well -being could protect against subsequent decrease in memory.”
Co -author Joshua Stott, a professor of aging and clinical psychology at UCL, adds: “This study represents an important step to understand the interaction between well -being and memory over time. It offers new ideas on how self -assessing well -being with memory and vice versa is associated.
“While our findings are preliminary, the importance of considering psychosocial influences in brain health, such as memory.”
Depression and anxiety are widely recognized as risk factors in a faster decrease in brain and dementia health. A key global medical care priority is now to prevent dementia.
Welfare is defined as combined emotional health with being able to function effectively. Happiness, trust, a sense of purpose and control over life are among the elements of well -being.
Existing studies have suggested a positive link between well -being, age -related decrease in mental processes in the brain and the slight deterioration of these functions. Memory is considered a cornerstone of the mental processes of an individual.
However, most studies have only tried this link between well -being and memory in one direction or another. The objective of this research was to provide longer -term information about the relationship between well -being and memory in people who have not yet experienced a significant cognitive decrease.
The data were based on 10,760 men and women who participated in the English longitudinal study of self -informed aging. This existing long -term research project involves adults from the United Kingdom over 50 years and includes attitudes towards well -being.
Participants were evaluated about well -being and memory every two years, a total of nine times during the 16 -year study period dating back to 2002.
The researchers used a learning task to verify the ability of the participants to withdraw ten words immediately and after a delay. Welfare was evaluated using a quality of life questionnaire. Participants were described according to the satisfaction of specific needs: pleasure, control, autonomy and self -realization. The questions include “I can do the things I want to do” and “I feel that life is full of opportunities.”
The authors excluded anyone with a diagnosis of dementia at the beginning of the study.
The results showed a small but significant association between greater well -being and better memory. In addition, the study found that the impact of memory welfare was significant even after adjusting depression. The authors say that this suggests that the links between well -being and memory exist regardless of depressive symptoms.
Biological factors such as cardiovascular disease and those linked to lifestyle, such as physical activities, are among the possible reasons for the effect of memory well -being, say the authors. Age, gender, lifestyle and socioeconomic state can also have a negative or positive impact on the relationship between well -being and memory function.
Despite the lack of memory evidence that affects well -being, the authors say this cannot be ruled out. They say that the lowest psychological well -being can be a sign of “cognitive impairment that approaches” before the symptoms become evident.
The investigation was financed by Alzheimer’s Research UK; Medical Research Council (a part of UCRI); National Institute on Aging; and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Emma Taylor, Information Services Manager of Alzheimer’s Research UK, comments: “Loving your heart, staying sharp and staying connected are key to protecting the health of the brain as we age.
“There are 14 established health and lifestyle factors for dementia, including the lack of physical exercise, social isolation and depression, which are linked to well -being.
“This study found that people over 50 who reported that they felt happier and more satisfied in life had a better memory over time. However, this research is observational, and more work is needed to understand how positive well -being and memory are connected and if this has a lower effect on the risk of dementia.
“Taking care of our mental well -being plays an important role in our general health. And it is never too late to start taking measures to keep our brains healthy throughout our lives and reduce the devastating impact of dementia.”
As with all long -term longitudinal studies, a limitation of this document is the drop -out of the sample during the monitoring period. However, the team used a research methodology that allowed the use of the use of all information available in the observed data, without imputation or discharge of cases.
To conclude, the authors say that their results could provide the basis for greater research on which factors can improve brain health in aging populations.
The co -author, Dr. Emily Willroth, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Washington, in St Louis, Missouri, adds: “In the future it would be fantastic if this research can be based on the foundations of the research of continuous memory to inform strategies potentially that support cognitive health in the populations of aging, that is the objective.”
On this aging and cognition research news
Author: Simon Wesson
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Contact: Simon Wesson – Taylor and Francis Group
Image: The image is accredited to Neuroscience News
Original research: open access.
“Welfare and memory function: tests of bidirectional associations in the English longitudinal study of aging (Elsa)” by Amber John et al. Aging and mental health
Abstract
Welfare and memory function: Bidirectional associations tests in the English longitudinal study study (ELSA)
Goals
The objective of this study was to prove the bidirectional relationship between well -being and memory in a large representative sample at the national level of people over 50 years.
Method
The data were used from the English longitudinal study of aging (Elsa), a longitudinal cohort that includes 12,099 people of 50 years, excluding people with dementia at the beginning. Repeated welfare measures (CASP-19) and episodic memory (immediate and delayed withdrawal with a list of words) were available 9 times for a period of 16 years. Cross -delayed models adjusted to prove the bidirectional relationships between well -being and memory.
Results
The highest well -being was associated with immediate subsequent and delayed memory scores at all time points, although the effect sizes were small (standardized betas that vary from 0.04 to 0.07). There was no evidence that the highest memory scores were associated with the subsequent well -being.
Conclusion
The highest levels of well -being are associated with a better memory function for 16 years. The study does not provide evidence that the association operates in the opposite direction. The lack of evidence of a relationship between memory and subsequent well -being can suggest that associations in this direction only arise after the development of clinically relevant cognitive impairment.
Better welfare can be a protective factor to retain the function of the memory of the Middle Ages at the subsequent adulthood.
