August 10, 2003 Reading, paying social visits, going to the
movies and theater -- participating in these and other leisure
activities during the early and middle adult years may keep the
brain and memory intact into old age, a new report suggests.
Researchers at the University of South Florida School of Aging
Studies examined the Swedish Twins Registry, using data on same-
sex twins born between 1886 and 1925. The twins underwent
testing and filled out questionnaires from the 1960s through the
1990s. The researchers looked closer at 107 of the twin pairs,
in which one of the two suffered mental decline in old age while
the other did not. The twin who participated more actively in
leisure activities, like reading and movie-going , during early
adulthood and midlife was less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's
or another type of dementia in old age, their analysis found.
Men and women were equally protected, the researchers found,
although women seemed to benefit more from intellectual cultural
activities, like re