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Contact with green spaces is known to have beneficial effects on mental health. A new study from the Institute for Global Health in Barcelona (ISGlobal), a center supported by the "La Caixa" Foundation, suggests that it could also play a positive role against cognitive decline in the elderly . In particular, this research published in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that the loss of cognitive functions expected as part of the aging process is slightly slower for people living in greener neighborhoods.
out of 6,500 people aged 45 to 68 in the Whitehall II cohort in the United Kingdom. At three different times during the study, participants completed a battery of cognitive tests that badessed their verbal and mathematical reasoning, verbal fluency, and short-term memory, as well as the decline of these functions. Neighborhood Greens were estimated for each participant using satellite images
"There is evidence that the risk of dementia and cognitive decline can be influenced by exposure to urban environmental hazards (such as air pollution and noise). On the other hand, it has been proposed to live near green spaces to increase physical activity and social support, reduce stress and mitigate exposure to air pollution and noise. Studies on possible relationships of exposure to green spaces and cognitive decline in the elderly are still very rare and often have inconsistent results, "says Carmen de Keijzer, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study .
"Our data show that the decline in the cognitive score after the 10-year follow-up was 4.6% lower among participants living in greener neighborhoods." The proportion of people over 60 in the world is expected almost doubling between 2015 and 2050, "adds Carmen de Keijzer
and the number of dementia cases is expected to grow at a similar pace worldwide, although the differences in cognitive decline seen in our study are modest at the individual level, they become much more significant if we consider these results at the level of the population, "explains Payam Dadvand, ISGlobal researcher and the latest author of the study, our results could constitute a factual basis for implementing targeted interventions to slow cognitive decline in urban seniors and thereby improve their quality of life, "he says [19]. 659006].] Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) . Note: Content can be changed according to style and length.
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