Three-year changes in leisure activities are associated with concurrent changes in white matter microstructure and perceptual speed in individuals aged 80 years and older.
Accumulating evidence suggests that engagement in leisure activities is associated with favorable trajectories of cognitive aging, but little is known about brain changes related to both activities and cognition. White matter microstructure shows experience-dependent plasticity and declines in aging. Therefore, we investigated the role of change in white matter microstructure in the activities-cognition link. We used repeated assessments of engagement, perceptual speed, and white matter microstructure (probed with diffusion tensor imaging) in a population-based sample of individuals over 80 years without dementia (n = 442, Mage = 85.1; n = 70 for diffusion tensor imaging; 2 occasions 3 years apart). Using multivariate latent change modeling, we observed positive correlations among changes in predominantly social activities, white matter microstructure, and perceptual speed. Interindividual differences in change in white matter microstructure statistically accounted for the association between change in leisure activities and change in perceptual speed. However, as analyses are based on observational data from 2 measurement occasions, causality remains unclear.
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: ylva.kohncke@ki.se.
Ylva
Y
Köhncke
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Erika J
EJ
Laukka
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Otto Hahn Group on Associative Memory, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Yvonne
Y
Brehmer
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Grégoria
G
Kalpouzos
Department of Medical Physics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Tie-Qiang
TQ
Li
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Stockholm, Sweden.
Laura
L
Fratiglioni
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Lars
L
Bäckman
Aging Research Center, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Martin
M
Lövdén
D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000523:psychology*; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*
Leisure activities; Longitudinal; Perceptual speed; Structural equation modeling; White matter microstructure