Recent collaborative research undertaken by German and American researchers suggests that engaging in activities like maths and reading could help individuals “age more slowly”.
The study points out cognitive deterioration, may start earlier than most people believe. Potentially beginning in one’s 40s.
Notably, the researchers observed that people experience a surge in cognitive skills such as literacy and numeracy in early adulthood with a slight increase again in midlife before a downturn begins in the 40s.
This drop could mark the start of cognitive decline.
However, the study, published in Science Advances, may also hold a hidden solution as Guillermo García Ribas from the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) told El Mundo: “It doesn’t have to be that way for everyone. If a person is well-read, reads regularly, and does mental calculations, this decline process doesn’t have to start.”
Furthermore, the research suggests that regular employment of these cognitive skills can delay the decline.
Engaging these skills daily, such as calculating budgets or prices and reading emails, might serve as protective factors against this decline.
People who used literacy and numeracy skills at an “above average” level actually never experienced a decline, instead they continued to improve well into their late 50s before eventually plateauing.
Conversely, those with below-average use of these skills could begin to decline as early as their mid-30s.
This highlights the importance of dedicating time to literacy and numeracy activities, particularly if these tasks are not already part of your daily routine,.
Regarding reading, García elaborated: “We have always seen it as a task that goes beyond just sitting down. It develops imagination, creativity; one has to get into the plot, understand what is happening. (It) goes far beyond words. And proof of this is that this article also follows that line.”
The study assessed the frequency at which participants engaged in six distinct types of reading per day:
- Emails, letters, or memos
- Newspapers, magazines, or newsletters
- Professional journals or scholarly publications
- Books
- Manuals or reference materials.
It also examined six specific numeracy areas:
- Calculating prices, costs, or budgets
- Using or calculating fractions, decimals, or percentages
- Using calculators
- Drafting charts, graphs, or tables
- Using basic algebra or formulae
- Using more intricate maths like calculus and trigonometry
This isn’t to say you need to be doing all 12 activities everyday. The study asked participants to log how often they do these activities, ranging from ‘never’ to ‘daily’.
The average respondent engaged in 59.7% of the listed reading-based exercises at least once a month and 35.3%of the numerical challenges once a month.
The researchers concluded: “These descriptive patterns do not have causal interpretation, but their consistency is notable, and they open directions for future research into underlying mechanisms.”