Elderly people with this trait can reduce the risk of dementia: study

Let’s be restless!

More than 6 million Americans have dementia, which affects memory, language and problem solving skills. Several changes in lifestyle may reduce the risk of dementia, including a healthy diet, exercise, social interaction, blood pressure management and proper sleep.

Now a new study suggests that a curious mind can help reduce the risk of dementia.

“Many senior adults will again teach or collect hobbies or participate in bird surveillance,” said UCLA psychologist and senior study author Alan Castel.

“I think it shows that this level of curiosity, if it is maintained, can keep us really sharp as we grow old.”

Castel and his colleagues wanted to explore the effect of age in two types of curiosity: the trait and curiosity of the state.

State curiosity is a momentary desire to learn something new when a topic attracts attention. In the meantime, the firing of curiosity is a passion of life to learn and try new experiences.

The authors of the study had 1,200 adults between 20 and 84, with an average age of 44, completed an online questionnaire that evaluates their curiosity.

Each volunteer asked 63 questions and was given 20 seconds for each answer. The participants also evaluated their curiosity to learn the answer and their confidence that they had the correct answer.

Example of questions included:

• “What is added to white sugar to make brown sugar?” Answer: molasses
• “What is the name of the largest constellation in heaven?” Answer: Hydra

The researchers found that participants’ interest in learning new information on trivies – a state of state curiosity – decreased in early adulthood, increased after the Middle Ages and continued to rise towards old age.

The study explained that young adults acquire the knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to succeed at school, work and home.

Paying mortgage and raising a family is usually the focus in the Middle Ages, which is when many people report less happy.

But once their children leave the nest and retire, the elderly can enjoy certain interests and their state curiosity increases.

“Our findings fit some of my works in the theory of selectivity, which as we grow old, we do not want to stop learning, we are only more selective about what we want to learn,” said Castel.

Castel also said that those with the most curiosity of the state are often more curious and vice versa.

The findings were published this week in Plos One magazine.

Other investigations have suggested that brain challenge activities such as puzzles and games can help reduce the risk of dementia by helping to maintain cognitive function.

“Anecdotally, many older adults I speak is important to keep it curious,” said Castel. “This fits some of the research that shows that people who have early stages of dementia could be disinterested in things they previously enjoyed.”