Evidence suggests cognitive activity (CA) in older adulthood slows or prevents cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease, after controlling for the effects of IQ and education. Despite media messages and public health campaigns endorsing CA as a main prevention strategy, there are limitations to studies using self-report, composite measures to estimate CA. In the present cross-sectional study we examined the association of education, self-reported CA, and estimated IQ (Vocabulary) with neuropsychological performance in a sample of 66 community-dwelling adults.
As predicted, IQ and education were associated with memory, global cognitive function, and letter fluency after controlling for CA. Contrary to predictions, self-reported CA was not related to neuropsychological performance. This study supports the use of IQ to predict neuropsychological performance, but fails to find support for the relation between self-reported CA and performance. Exploratory analyses suggested that education and CA interact to moderate cognitive performance, especially in adults with low education.