Mental Stimulation Postpones, Then Speeds Dementia (part 2)

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Allison Augbry

His(Yaakov Stern) theory is that mentally engaged people build up a "cognitive reserve" that may help them compensate when the initial brain changes associated with dementia and Alzheimer's begin to develop.

"One simple idea is that perhaps they have more flexibility in how they approach tasks," Stern says. So, if the disease begins to disrupt or damage one network in the brain, they may be able to engage alternative networks in the brain to solve problems or do tasks.

Delay Followed By Speedy Decline

So for those who are mentally engaged, it may take many more years for the symptoms of the disease to appear. But once they do, the course of the disease seems to speed up. Researchers say there's a bit of a silver lining here: knowing that the disease will likely progress more quickly.

"We think this is very good news," Wilson says. "It suggests that cognitive activity extends your period of cognitive independence as long as it possibly can."

And it will likely shorten the battle at the end of life. This means Alzheimer's patients may be less of a burden to caregivers and loved ones.