This Everyday Interest Could Reduce Your Risk of Alzheimer's

[erronis]

https://scitechdaily.com/this-everyday-interest-could-reduce-your-risk-of-alzheimers/

Contrary to earlier findings that suggested curiosity fades with age, new research reveals that some forms of curiosity can increase well into later life. Older individuals who remain curious and eager to explore topics aligned with their interests may reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

A new study suggests that the questions you ask and your interest in lifelong learning may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.

A new international study, including researchers from UCLA, found that certain types of curiosity don’t fade with age—they actually grow. In fact, older adults who remain eager to learn, especially about topics that interest them, could be doing more than just keeping their minds active. According to the research, maintaining curiosity may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

On the flip side, the study suggests that a lack of curiosity and disengagement from new experiences may increase the risk of cognitive decline. These findings challenge long-held beliefs that curiosity naturally declines as we get older.

“The psychology literature shows that oftentimes what’s known as trait curiosity, or a person’s general level of curiosity, tends to decline with age,” said UCLA psychologist Alan Castel, who is the senior author of a new paper published in the journal PLOS One. “But we thought that was a little bit strange and went against some of the things we saw in some of the older adult participants in our experiments, who would often be very engaged and interested in learning about memory, specifically, but even other forms of trivia.”

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Reference: “Curiosity across the adult lifespan: Age-related differences in state and trait curiosity” by Mary C. Whatley, Kou Murayama, Michiko Sakaki and Alan D. Castel, 7 May 2025, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320600

This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

[Norrrm]

1. 1+

[Midnight Writer]

2. So little time, so much to learn.