Age-related differences in cognition: Lifestyle, health status, coping and sociodemographic factors

This study examines to what extent memory capacity is Influencedby lifestyle, health or sociodemographic factors. The data werederived from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS), a large studycarried out in The Netherlands. For the current study 1,673people aged 24–88 years completed a postal survey on ‘Health,Cognition, and Psychosocial factors’. The dependent variablewas ‘memory capacity’ as measured by the Metamemoryin Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire. The study shows that age,gender and coping abilities play an important role in influencingthe variation in memory capacity. The lifestyle factors of smokingand mental activity also had a significant effect on memorycapacity in certain age-specific subgroups. These results suggeststhat future research should focus on these variables as determinantsof cognitive ageing.