IQ, activities linked to dementia
People with higher IQs who were more active in high school are less likely to lack memory or have thinking problems and dementia as older adults.
Researchers at the University Memory and Aging Center, affiliated with Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, used historical data from high school records from the mid-1940s to create a picture of the students' abilities and interests as teens.
In 2002, researchers conducted interviews with the graduates, now in their 70s, and their family members to learn about the adult cognitive status of each subject.
"We found some very interesting associations between our early-life and late-life measures," said study author Thomas Fritsch.
Their findings are published in the July 2005 issue of The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
