Researchers identify a potential protector from harmful changes in the brain.
Patricia Boyle, PhD, is motivated by at least one purpose in life: figuring out if it would be beneficial for people to find similar meaning from their own pursuits.
Boyle,
Researchers identify a potential protector from harmful changes in the brain.
Patricia Boyle, PhD, is motivated by at least one purpose in life: figuring out if it would be beneficial for people to find similar meaning from their own pursuits.
Boyle, a researcher at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, is the principal investigator in a study indicating that having a greater purpose in life — the degree to which a person derives meaning from life's experiences — may help limit the harmful effects of changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
The study, published in the May 2012 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, finds that the benefits of having meaning and direction in life are apparent even when there is evidence of the formation of plaques and tangles in the brain, which are hallmark biological changes that occur in people who develop Alzheimer’s disease. Many people find meaning in life from activities such as those involving religion, family, exercise or music — anything that allows you to pursue your passions.
"This finding is exciting because it suggests that engaging in meaningful and purposeful activities promotes cognitive health in old age," Boyle says.
Boyle and her colleagues from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center studied 246 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a large-scale effort to better understand, treat and hopefully prevent memory, mobility and strength problems associated with aging. The participants were never diagnosed with dementia, and they subsequently died and their brains were autopsied to determine if plaques and tangles had formed. Before their deaths, they received an annual clinical evaluation for up to 10 years, which included detailed cognitive testing and neurological exams.
Participants also answered questions about purpose in life. The investigators then examined whether purpose in life slowed the rate of cognitive decline even as older adults accumulated plaques and tangles.
Two years ago, Boyle and her team had a similar study published in the Ar