Greater engagement in cognitively stimulating activities (CSA) during adulthood has been shown to protect against neurocognitive decline, but no studies have investigated whether CSA during childhood protects against effects of brain changes on cognition later in life. The current study tested the moderating role of childhood CSA in the relationships between brain structure and cognitive performance during adulthood. At baseline (N=250) and 5-year follow-up (N=204) healthy adults aged 20–80 underwent MRI to assess four structural brain measures and completed neuropsychological tests to measure three cognitive domains. Participants were categorized into low and high childhood CSA based on self-report questionnaires. Results of multivariable linear regressions analyzing interactions between CSA, brain structure, and cognition showed that higher childhood CSA was associated with a weaker relationship between cortical thickness and memory at baseline, and attenuated the effects of change in cortical thickness and brain volume on decline in processing speed over time. These findings suggest higher CSA during childhood may mitigate the effects of brain structure changes on cognitive function later in life.

中文翻译：

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童年参与认知刺激活动调节成年后大脑结构和认知功能之间的关系

成年期间更多地参与认知刺激活动 (CSA) 已被证明可以防止神经认知能力下降，但没有研究调查儿童时期的 CSA 是否可以防止大脑变化对以后认知的影响。目前的研究测试了儿童期 CSA 在成年期大脑结构和认知表现之间关系中的调节作用。在基线 (N=250) 和 5 年随访 (N=204) 中，20-80 岁的健康成年人接受了 MRI 来评估四项大脑结构测量，并完成了神经心理学测试来测量三个认知领域。根据自我报告问卷，参与者被分为低儿童 CSA 和高儿童 CSA。分析 CSA、大脑结构和认知之间相互作用的多变量线性回归结果表明，较高的儿童 CSA 与基线时皮质厚度和记忆之间的较弱关系相关，并减弱了皮质厚度和脑容量变化对处理能力下降的影响随着时间的推移速度。这些发现表明，童年时期较高的 CSA 可能会减轻大脑结构变化对以后生活中认知功能的影响。