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Association Between Lifestyle at Different Life Periods and Brain Integrity in Older Adults
Turpin AL, Felisatti F, Chauveau L, Haudry S, Mézenge F, Landeau B, Vivien D, De La Sayette V et al.. Neurology, 2025-02-07
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background and objectives Lifestyle behaviors, including engagement in complex mental activities, have been associated with dementia risk and neuroimaging markers of aging and Alzheimer disease. However, the life period(s) at which lifestyle factors have the greatest influence on brain health remains unclear. Our objective was to determine the relative influence of lifestyle (i.e., engagement in complex mental activities) at different life periods on older adults' brain health. Methods This observational study included community-dwelling cognitively unimpaired seniors (older than 65 years) from the Age-Well randomized controlled trial (Caen, France). All participants completed at baseline the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire, assessing engagement in complex mental activities during young adulthood (13-30 years: LEQ-young), midlife (30-65 years: LEQ-midlife), and late-life (older than 65 years: LEQ-late). LEQ scores were divided into specific and non-specific activities. Multiple regressions were conducted including LEQ scores at the 3 life periods (same model) to predict gray matter volume (GMv; structural-MRI), glucose metabolism (fluorodeoxyglucose-PET), perfusion (early-Florbetapir-PET), or amyloid burden (late-Florbetapir-PET), both in AD-signature regions and voxel-wise (significance for voxel-wise analyses: p uncorrected , k > 100). Correlations between LEQ and neuroimaging outcomes were then compared between (1) life periods and (2) specific and non-specific activities. Analyses were controlled for age and sex. Results In 135 older adults (mean age = 69.3 years; women = 61.5%), no associations were found within AD-signature regions (all p > 0.25). Voxel-wise analyses revealed no association between LEQ-young and neuroimaging. LEQ-midlife showed stronger voxel-wise associations than the other periods with GMv, notably in the anterior cingulate cortex, and with amyloid burden in the precuneus. These correlations were stronger for the LEQ-midlife specific (i.e., occupation) than the non-specific subscore (GMv: z = 3.25, p p p Discussion Lifestyle at different life periods may have complementary benefits on brain health in regions related to reserve/resilience in aging. While past (midlife) engagement could promote resistance against structural/pathologic alterations, current (late-life) engagement could enhance cognitive reserve. Future larger longitudinal studies should explore mechanisms by which lifestyle promotes reserve.
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APA 7th
Turpin, A. L., Felisatti, F., Chauveau, L., Haudry, S., Mézenge, F., Landeau, B., et al. (2025). Association Between Lifestyle at Different Life Periods and Brain Integrity in Older Adults. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000213347
Vancouver
Turpin AL, Felisatti F, Chauveau L, Haudry S, Mézenge F, Landeau B, et al. Association Between Lifestyle at Different Life Periods and Brain Integrity in Older Adults. Neurology. 2025. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000213347. PMID: 39919257.
BibTeX
@article{turpin2025-39919257,
author = {Turpin, A. L. and Felisatti, F. and Chauveau, L. and Haudry, S. and Mézenge, F. and Landeau, B. and Vivien, D. and De La Sayette, V. and others},
title = {{Association Between Lifestyle at Different Life Periods and Brain Integrity in Older Adults}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000213347},
pmid = {39919257},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000213347}
}
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Key findings
- Background and objectives Lifestyle behaviors, including engagement in complex mental activities, have been associated with dementia risk and neuroimaging markers of aging and Alzheimer disease.
- Results In 135 older adults (mean age = 69.3 years; women = 61.5%), no associations were found within AD-signature regions (all p > 0.25).
- Voxel-wise analyses revealed no association between LEQ-young and neuroimaging.
Why it matters
In 135 cognitively unimpaired older adults, engagement in complex mental activities at different life periods showed no association with brain imaging markers in Alzheimer's signature regions. This observational study does not support a link between these lifestyle activities and the brain measures examined.
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Study details
- Study designrandomized controlled trial
- Effect size61.5%
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 68/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 68 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 7 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 2.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 3.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 7 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Inserm: institution h-index 1,988 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 39919257) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 65 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 68 out of 100. |
| Total | 68 / 100 | — |
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