9/28/21, 6:34 PM Cognitive decline: Books in childhood home help avoid mental ageing | New Scientist

Children with more books at home have less mental

decline when older

HEALTH
27 September 2021
By Alice Klein

Children benefit from exposure to books

DEEPOL by plainpicture/JGI/Jamie Grill

Children who grow up in homes filled with books tend to have less cognitive decline when
they reach old age, even when taking factors such as wealth and education into account.
The finding suggests that early cognitive enrichment has long-lasting protective effects on
the brain.

Previous studies have found that children with large home libraries are more likely to do
well at school and in their later careers. Ella Cohn-Schwartz at Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev in Israel and her colleagues wondered whether the benefits of early book
exposure extend into old age.

They analysed data from more than 8000 men and women aged 65 and older without
Alzheimer’s disease in 16 European countries, who had taken memory tests in 2011 and
2013 as part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. The tests included
trying to memorise lists of words and naming as many animals as possible in 1 minute.
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Participants were asked to recall roughly how many books their family homes contained
when they were children: no books, one shelf (about 25 books), one bookcase (about 100
books), two bookcases or more.

Those who grew up with larger book collections performed better in all memory tests. They
also showed slower cognitive decline, with a smaller dip in their test scores between 2011
and 2013.

This may be because their early book exposure encouraged them to read more, which in
turn boosted their “cognitive reserve”, says Cohn-Schwartz. Intellectually stimulating
activities like reading are known to create extra connections in the brain that buffer it
against degenerative processes like those seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s highly likely they built that buffer in the early stages of their childhood that has lasted
them the distance,” says Ralph Martins at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.

Read more: These are the 12 ways you can drastically cut your dementia risk

The findings persisted when the researchers used statistical techniques to adjust for the
participants’ wealth, education, physical health and other factors. This suggests that large
home libraries aren’t just a marker of having more money, which could protect the brain in
a variety of ways, such as through better nutrition, says Cohn-Schwartz.

However, Martins notes that children who grow up in book-oriented homes are probably
also encouraged to take up other stimulating activities, like sport and playing musical
instruments, which could also boost their cognitive reserves. “I suspect it’s not just the
books,” he says.

A recent US study asked 800 older people how cognitively enriching their childhoods were
overall, including whether they had newspaper subscriptions, encyclopaedias or atlases at
home, how often they read books and if they learned foreign languages. Brain autopsies
after they died showed that those who grew up in more enriching environments had fewer
signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The bottom line is that an enriched childhood is going to be beneficial, but it will
probably be a combination of factors,” says Martins.
Journal reference: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, DOI: 10.1159/000518129

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More on these topics: DEMENTIA CHILDREN BRAIN AGEING

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