Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

The relation of education and cognitive activity to mini-mental state in old age: the role of functional fitness status

  • Original Investigation
  • Published:
European Journal of Ageing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It remains unclear so far whether the role of cognitive reserve for cognitive functioning in old age may differ between individuals with low, compared to those with high functional fitness status. Therefore, the present study set out to investigate the relation of education and cognitive leisure activity as key markers of cognitive reserve to mini-mental state in old age (as an indicator of the extent of cognitive impairment) and its interplay with functional fitness status in a large sample of older adults. We assessed MMSE in 701 older adults (M = 70.4 years, SD = 6.9, range: 60–91). We measured functional fitness status using the Senior Fitness Test battery and interviewed individuals on their education and cognitive leisure activity. Results showed that better functional fitness status, longer education, and greater engagement in cognitive leisure activity were significantly related to higher MMSE scores. Moderation analyses showed that the relations of education and cognitive leisure activity to MMSE scores were significantly larger in individuals with low, compared to those with high functional fitness status. In conclusion, cognitive functioning in old age may more strongly depend on cognitive reserve accumulated during the life course in older adults with low, compared to those with high functional fitness status. These findings may be explained by cross-domain compensation effects in vulnerable individuals and may (at least partly) account for the large variability in cognitive reserve–cognition relations debated in the literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Wirth M, Chetelat G (2015) Cognitive reserve and lifestyle: moving towards preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Front Aging Neurosci 7:134. doi:10.3389/Fnagi.2015.00134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bäckman L, Dixon RA (1992) Psychological compensation: a theoretical framework. Psychol Bull 112(2):259–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes PB, Baltes MM (1989) Selective optimization with compensation—a psychological model of successful aging. Z Pädagogik 35:85–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjork MP, Johansson B, Hassing LB (2016) I forgot when I lost my grip-strong associations between cognition and grip strength in level of performance and change across time in relation to impending death. Neurobiol Aging 38:68–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchman AS, Leurgans SE, Boyle PA, Schneider JA, Arnold SE, Bennett DA (2011) Combinations of motor measures more strongly predict adverse health outcomes in old age: the rush memory and aging project, a community-based cohort study. Bmc Med. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-9-42 (ARTN 42)

    Google Scholar 

  • Erickson KI, Voss MW, Prakash RS, Basak C, Szabo A, Chaddock L, Kim JS, Heo S, Alves H, White SM, Wojcicki TR, Mailey E, Vieira VJ, Martin SA, Pence BD, Woods JA, McAuley E, Kramer AF (2011) Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108(7):3017–3022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) Mini-mental state—practical method for grading cognitive state of patients for clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12(3):189–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritsch T, McClendon MJ, Smyth KA, Lerner AJ, Friedland RP, Larsen JD (2007) Cognitive functioning in healthy aging: the role of reserve and lifestyle factors early in life. Gerontologist 47:307–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatz M, Svedberg P, Pedersen NL, Mortimer JA, Berg S, Johansson B (2001) Education and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: findings from the study of dementia in Swedish Twins. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 56B:292–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray SL, Anderson ML, Hubbard RA, LaCroix A, Crane PK, McCormick W, Bowen JD, McCurry SM, Larson EB (2013) Frailty and incident dementia. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 68(9):1083–1090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog C (2009) Use it or lose it: an old hypothesis, new evidence, and an ongoing case study. In: Bosworth HB, Hertzog C (eds) Aging and cognition: research methodologies and empirical advances. American Psychological Association, Washington, pp 161–179

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog C, Hultsch DF, Dixon RA (1999) On the problem of detecting effects of lifestyle on cognitive change in adulthood: reply to Pushkar et al. (1999). Psychol Aging 14(3):528–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog C, Kramer AF, Wilson RS, Lindenberger U (2008) Enrichment effects on adult cognitive development: can the functional capacity of older adults be preserved and enhanced? Psychol Sci Public Interest 9:1–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hultsch DF, Hertzog C, Small BJ, Dixon RA (1999) Use it or lose it: engaged lifestyle as a buffer of cognitive decline in aging? Psychol Aging 14:245–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ihle A, Mons U, Perna L, Oris M, Fagot D, Gabriel R, Kliegel M (2016) The relation of obesity to performance in verbal abilities, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility in old age: the role of cognitive reserve. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 42(1–2):117–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ihle A, Oris M, Fagot D, Chicherio C, van der Linden BWA, Sauter J, Kliegel M (2017) Associations of educational attainment and cognitive level of job with old age verbal ability and processing speed: The mediating role of chronic diseases. Appl Neuropsychol Adult. doi:10.1080/23279095.2017.1306525

    Google Scholar 

  • Karp A, Paillard-Borg S, Wang HX, Silverstein M, Winblad B, Fratiglioni L (2006) Mental, physical and social components in leisure activities equally contribute to decrease dementia risk. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 21(2):65–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez M, Charter R, Mostafavi B, Nibut L, Smith W (2005) Psychometric properties of the folstein mini-mental state examination. Assessment 12(2):137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell I, Xi GL, Lindsay J, Tierney M (2007) Mapping the connections between education and dementia. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 29:127–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moutafi J, Furnham A, Paltiel L (2004) Why is Conscientiousness negatively correlated with intelligence? Personal Individ Differ 37:1013–1022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy M, O’Leary E (2010) Depression, cognitive reserve and memory performance in older adults. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 25:665–671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opdebeeck C, Martyr A, Clare L (2016) Cognitive reserve and cognitive function in healthy older people: a meta-analysis. Aging Neuropsychol Cogn 23(1):40–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher KJ, Curran PJ, Bauer DJ (2006) Computational tools for probing interactions in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. J Educ Behav Stat 31(4):437–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rikli RE, Jones CJ (2013) Senior fitness test manual. Human Kinetics Inc, Champaign

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson IH (2013) A noradrenergic theory of cognitive reserve: implications for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 34(1):298–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salthouse TA (2006) Mental exercise and mental aging evaluating the validity of the “use it or lose it” hypothesis. Perspect Psychol Sci 1(1):68–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soubelet A (2011) Age-cognition relations and the personality trait of Conscientiousness. J Res Personal 45:529–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spini D, Bernardi L, Oris M (2017) Toward a life course framework for studying vulnerability. Res Hum Dev 14(1):5–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern Y (2009) Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia 47(10):2015–2028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern Y (2012) Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet Neurol 11(11):1006–1012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuijl JP, Scholte EM, de Craen AJM, Mast RC (2012) Screening for cognitive impairment in older general hospital patients: comparison of the Six-Item Cognitive Impairment Test with the Mini-Mental State Examination. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 27(7):755–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dijk KRA, Van Gerven PWM, Van Boxtel MPJ, Van der Elst W, Jolles J (2008) No protective effects of education during normal cognitive aging: results from the 6-year follow-up of the Maastricht aging study. Psychol Aging 23(1):119–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veronese N, Stubbs B, Trevisan C, Bolzetta F, De Rui M, Solmi M, Sartori L, Musacchio E, Zambon S, Perissinotto E, Crepaldi G, Manzato E, Sergi G (2016) What physical performance measures predict incident cognitive decline among intact older adults? A 4.4 year follow up study. Exp Gerontol 81:110–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Maria A. Tinôco, Floramara T. Machado, and Angenay P. Odim for technical assistance in the data collection and management. We are especially grateful to the older people for their participation and interest. A. Ihle and M. Kliegel belong to the Swiss National Center of Competences in Research LIVES—Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant Number: 51NF40-160590). The authors are grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation for its financial assistance. We are also grateful for the support from City Hall of Apuí—Secretary of Health, Amazonas.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Andreas Ihle & Matthias Kliegel

  2. Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability (CIGEV), University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Andreas Ihle, Élvio R. Gouveia, Bruna R. Gouveia & Matthias Kliegel

  3. Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal

    Élvio R. Gouveia, Duarte L. Freitas, Rui T. Ornelas & António M. Antunes

  4. Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Funchal, Portugal

    Élvio R. Gouveia & Bruna R. Gouveia

  5. Health and Social Affairs Administration Institute, Secretary of Health of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal

    Bruna R. Gouveia

  6. Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Duarte L. Freitas

  7. Coordination of Physical Education and Sport, Amazonas State University, Manaus, Brazil

    Jefferson Jurema

  8. City Hall of Manaus, Amazonas - Municipal Secretary of Youth Sports and Leisure, Manaus, Brazil

    Bárbara R. Muniz

Authors
  1. Andreas Ihle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Élvio R. Gouveia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bruna R. Gouveia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Duarte L. Freitas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jefferson Jurema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rui T. Ornelas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  7. António M. Antunes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  8. Bárbara R. Muniz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  9. Matthias Kliegel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas Ihle.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Additional information

Responsible editor: H.-W. Wahl

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 184 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ihle, A., Gouveia, É.R., Gouveia, B.R. et al. The relation of education and cognitive activity to mini-mental state in old age: the role of functional fitness status. Eur J Ageing 15, 123–131 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-017-0441-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-017-0441-4

Keywords