Literacy Might Shield the Brain From Dementia

A study in Neurology suggests the act of writing may help protect people from dementia, reports Scientific American . The researchers enlisted 983 people with four years or less of schooling who were part of the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Community Aging Project in New York City. Of that group, 238 were illiterate, average age about 78, with many hailing from rural areas in the Dominican Republic. Thirty-five percent of the illiterate group had dementia at the beginning of the study, as did 18 percent of the literate segment. Of the 155 illiterate people who lacked dementia when first examined, 48 percent received a diagnosis upon follow-up, while 27 percent of the 609 literate individuals were no longer dementia-free. The researchers correlated literacy with higher scores on cognitive measures not solely linked to reading or language skills. Moreover, the rate of cognitive decline did not differ between literate and illiterate cohorts, possibly because the illiterate group, when first examined, was already closer to meeting dementia thresholds. Dementia risk posed by illiteracy also was identical for men and women.