The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Does active leisure protect cognition? Evidence from a national birth cohort.
Abstract
Social, physical and intellectual activities are thought to facilitate cognitive performance and slow the rate of age associated cognitive decline, but little is known about this association in younger adulthood. We used multiple regression to test the association between two kinds of activity at 36 years-physical exercise and spare-time activity-and verbal memory at 43 and 53 years in 1919 males and females enrolled in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort). Both kinds of activities were significantly and positively associated with memory performance at 43 years, after controlling for sex, education, occupational social class, IQ at 15 years, and recurrent ill health and significant mental distress. Furthermore, physical exercise at 36 years (but not spare-time activity) was associated with a significantly slower rate of decline in memory from 43 to 53 years, after controlling for the same factors, with evidence that continuing physical exercise after 36 years was important for protection. We conclude that physical exercise and spare-time activity are significantly associated with benefit to memory in midlife, although these two kinds of voluntary activity may exert their effects on cognition via different paths.
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“These data suggest little memory protection for those who stopped exercise after age 36 but protection for those individuals who began exercise after this time.”
From Enrichment Effects on Adult Cognitive Development: Can the Functional Capacity of Older Adults Be Preserved and Enhanced? (2008) · cites this paper as Richards, Hardy, and Wadsworth (2003)
In the citing paper
“Richards et al. (2003) reported that physical activity at 36 years of age was associated with a slower rate of decline in memory from 43 to 53 years of age and that this relationship was unchanged after adjusting for cognitive activities.”
From Enrichment Effects on Adult Cognitive Development: Can the Functional Capacity of Older Adults Be Preserved and Enhanced? (2008) · cites this paper as Richards et al. (2003)
In the citing paper
“Cognitive activities were not associated with change in memory over this interval.”
From Enrichment Effects on Adult Cognitive Development: Can the Functional Capacity of Older Adults Be Preserved and Enhanced? (2008) · cites this paper as Richards et al. (2003)
In the citing paper
“Some human studies have focussed on assessing the influence of AE on hippocampus dependent cognition and shown in older adults that AE was associated with improved performances in both episodic (Richards et al., 2003; Stewart et al., 2003; Sabia et al., 2009; Flöel et al., 2010; Ruscheweyh et al., 2011) and spatial (Erickson and Kramer, 2009; Erickson et al., 2010, 2011) memory tasks as well as in”
From Aerobic Exercise as a Tool to Improve Hippocampal Plasticity and Function in Humans: Practical Implications for Mental Health Treatment (2016) · cites this paper as Richards et al., 2003
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Metadata
- Authors
- Richards, M., Hardy, R., & Wadsworth, M. E. J.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Richards, Marcus
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2003-02
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 785-792
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2006421113
- Cited by
- 264
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 34
- FWCI
- 7.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- physical activity, leisure, verbal memory, cognitive decline, midlife cognition, cognitive aging, 1946 birth cohort, National Survey of Health and Development, psychological distress, social class
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aging, Cognition, Female, United Kingdom, Health Status, Humans, Leisure Activities, Male, Memory, Psychometrics, Regression Analysis, Cohort Studies, Exercise
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