Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds (opens in new tab)

Given that dementia can result from various pathological processes, I wonder what it is about dementia that leads you to conclude that these forms of cognitive stimulation cannot possibly reduce one’s risk. I agree that the title is misleading, though, in large part because it assumes causation, whereas association is about all one can say. At least both absolute and relative risk were mentioned in the write up; that’s rare to see.

The original paper is behind a firewall of course, so I cannot access it. Possibly they controlled for other measures of SES? I don’t know.

I think the title of this post should be changed to match the “Lifetime cognitive enrichment” from the original publication.

I frequently see videos from around the world or hear directly from the teachers I know, that the children currently in schools are averse to and perform badly in reading and writing skills and even basic reasoning skills. It's extremely alarming - in some places, 8th graders are performing at 2nd grade levels! Their attention span is also reported to be very short.

To be honest, I'm a bit skeptical and am waiting for study results on this. The reports are that unbelievable. Of course, this isn't uniform among that population. But the incidence is a bit too frequent for my comfort. I don't remember any other generation complaining so much about the children like the current one. If I were asked to guess the culprits, I would pick social media and AI slop. But again, I'm waiting for a rigorous scientific confirmation.

But if it's true, I am scared to think about the emotional and neurological mess these kids are going to find themselves in.