Response to Daily Stressors Could Affect Brain Health in Older Adults

A study published in Psychosomatic Medicine determined responding calmly to daily stressors may help preserve brain health in older adults, while emotional reactions could contribute to cognitive decline, reports Medical Xpress . Investigators followed 111 older adults between 65 and 95 for 2.5 years, making cognitive assessments in six-month intervals. Participants looked at a series of two strings of numbers and were asked whether the same numbers appeared in the two strings, regardless of order. Previous studies associated fluctuations in how quickly people can do this exercise with decreased mental focus, cognitive aging, and dementia risk. Each participant completed the exercises for up to 30 sessions over the study period; in general, participants who responded to stressful events with more negative emotions and noted a more dour mood overall exhibited greater fluctuations in their performance on the exercises, suggesting poorer mental focus and cognitive health among this cohort. Being more reactive to stressors than usual also contributed to worse cognitive performance for the oldest subjects in the late 70s to mid-90s group. Meanwhile, people in their late 60s to mid-70s performed better if they reported more stressors. "These relatively younger participants may have a more active lifestyle to begin with, more social and professional engagement, which could sharpen their mental functioning," says Oregon State University Professor Robert Stawski.