ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2020
Engagement in Enriching Early-Life Activities Is Associated With Larger Hippocampal and Amygdala Volumes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Contextualizing cognition: Socio-environmental factors shape how momentary stress predicts memory.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Is Early-Life Enrichment Associated With Better Cognitive Function Among Older Adults? Examining Home and School Environments.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- Who Has Active Lifestyles? Sociodemographic and Personality Correlates of Activity Diversity in Two Samples of Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
- Association between Physical Activity Levels and Brain Volumes in Adults Visiting Radio-Imaging Center of Tertiary Care Hospital.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Risk of Dementia Differs Across Lifestyle Engagement Subgroups: A Latent Class and Time-to-Event Analysis in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Rich and Balanced Experiences of Daily Emotions Are Associated With Activity Diversity Across Adulthood.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Life course linkages between enriching early-life activities and later life cognition: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Article
- Relationships between enriching early life experiences and cognitive function later in life are mediated by educational attainment.Journal of cognitive enhancement : towards the integration of theory and practice · 2021Article
- Traits and treadmills: Association between personality and perceived fatigability in well-functioning community-dwelling older adults.Psychology and aging · 2021Article
- Enriching activities during childhood are associated with variations in functional connectivity patterns later in life.Neurobiology of aging · 2021Article
- Change Is Good for the Brain: Activity Diversity and Cognitive Functioning Across Adulthood.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- Environmental influences on the pace of brain development.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesNumerous studies show benefits of mid- and late-life activity on neurocognitive health. Yet, few studies have examined how engagement in enriching activities during childhood, when the brain is most plastic, may confer long-term neurocognitive benefits that may be especially important to individuals raised in low-income settings. We examined associations between enriching early-life activities (EELAs) and hippocampal and amygdala volumes in a sample of predominantly African-American, community-dwelling older adults. We further assessed whether these associations were independent of current activity engagement.
methodsNinety participants from the baseline Brain Health Substudy of the Baltimore Experience Corps Trial (mean age: 67.4) completed retrospective activity inventories and an magnetic resonance imaging scan. Volumes were segmented using FreeSurfer.
resultsEach additional EELA was associated with a 2.3% (66.6 mm3) greater amygdala volume after adjusting for covariates. For men, each additional EELA was associated with a 4.1% (278.9 mm3) greater hippocampal volume. Associations were specific to these regions when compared with the thalamus, used as a control region. DISCUSSION: Enriching lifestyle activities during an important window of childhood brain development may be a modifiable factor that impacts lifelong brain reserve, and results highlight the importance of providing access to such activities in historically underserved populations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.