Karaoke is Good for Your Brain
Want More of This? Get Some Brain Food Every Week.
Building mental activities into your life now will reduce dementia risk as you age.
We love a good study around these parts, and one that took 44 years to complete with an 800-person sample size means biz. Sweden really knows what’s up, from creating the best oat milk brand (#notanad) to running a long-term study on reducing dementia risk: they nail it.
Anyway, back to science.
In the aforementioned study, the average age of the women in the study was 47. At the beginning, they were asked about mental and physical activities.
Mental activities ranged from intellectual to artistic, such as reading, writing, singing, or going to a concert, and included manual activities (think: needlework or baking delicious Swedish buns), and religious activities.
Physical activity was also taken into account, with participants logging light (gardening, bowling) to intense (running or swimming several times a week) exercise over the course of the study.
Time to get singing
The study found that the women who participated in mental activities were 46% less likely to develop dementia, and participants who were physically active were 52% less likely.
The researchers also took into account other factors that could affect the risk of dementia, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes.
Important caveat
All of the participants were white Swedish women, so the results may not be representative of the general global population.
What does this mean for me?
Regardless of whether you’re a Swedish woman or not, you’re a human with a brain to take care of. Starting now, make sure you’re making time for the activities that use your brain in a variety of ways, as listed above. Yes, that means singing your favourite ABBA song at karaoke night (as if you needed an excuse to do that).
And keep up your physical routine too. If you’re after a nearby and free community to help you do that, sign up for your local Park Run.
FOR THE NERDY: Knowing Me Knowing You [source: Neurosciencenews.com]