Study paints mixed picture of how unpaid caring affects cognition in later life
A study published in Age and Ageing has shown that caring for someone for 50 or more hours per week in later life leads to ‘accelerated cognitive decline’, but caring for up to 9 hours per week can boost brain health into older age.
The research, which is part of the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing, involved comparing the cognitive health of 2,765 carers aged 50 or over with 2,765 non-carers the same age. The researchers say that those with full-time caring responsibilities ‘exhibited accelerated cognitive decline’, whilst it was noted that those with less intensive caring responsibilities were helped to maintain executive function in later life thanks to their caring role.
Dr Baowen Xue, Lead author of the study from University College London, says:
“Our study shows that the caring responsibilities many people take on in later life can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, lighter caring responsibilities can be good for you by providing mental stimulation from interacting with loved ones or others you’re helping and a sense of purpose and usefulness. But being overloaded with caring tasks has exactly the opposite effect and can accelerate people’s mental decline in terms of not being as mentally sharp or quick-thinking as they used to be.”
You can read the study here: https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/55/5/afag132/8676595