Mental Stimulation and Dementia

Epidemiological studies support an association between increasing levels of participation in mentally stimulating activities and reduced risk of developing dementia. Mentally stimulating activities may exert their protective effects on cognitive decline in older adults via improving cognitive reserve, promoting vascular health or reducing stress. Given the low risks associated with participation in mentally stimulating activities, clinicians should consider encouraging participation of patients with dementia or older adults at risk for developing dementia in mentally stimulating activities. However, there is a paucity of high-quality clinical trials of mental stimulation interventions in dementia. Well-designed, large-scale clinical trials are needed to help develop evidence-based health recommendations.