Vision Loss Strongly Associated With Declining Cognition, Study Shows

A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology found age-related vision loss leads to decline of cognitive function, reports Healio . The researchers studied 2,520 adults 65 to 85 years old living in the greater Salisbury area in Maryland. At baseline, mean visual acuity was 20/25, and mean cognitive functioning was within the normal range. Poorer baseline visual acuity was significantly associated with worse baseline Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Over time, both vision and scores on the MMSE experienced a decline. The mean loss of vision was one letter, and the number of participants with cognitive impairment rose from 11 percent at baseline to 20.6 percent in eight years. The rate of visual acuity loss was tied to the rate of declining MMSE score. When comparing the impact of visual acuity at baseline on cognitive function at two years versus the reverse, the researchers observed that the standardized regression coefficient of visual acuity to MMSE score was nearly twice that of MMSE score to visual acuity. "This demonstrated visual acuity is likely the dominating factor of the dynamic associations between visual acuity and MMSE score," they note. "To our knowledge, this is the first time this dependency has been shown." The study's results also support the theory that visual impairment might affect cognitive function because it makes older adults less able to participate in brain-stimulating activities.