2008 Age Plus Prize Winner

Allison Bielak
University of Victoria
It's never too late to engage in lifestyle activities: Significant concurrent but not change relationships between lifestyle activities and cognitive speed

Many older adults want to play an active role in how they age, but research evidence is inconsistent as to whether participating in physical, social, and intellectual activities maintains or protects cognitive performance. The amount of fluctuation in an individual's performance on a test from one moment to the next is associated with his or her neural health, and may help provide insight into whether brain-based benefits can result from being physically active.

In her study, Ms. Bielak and her colleagues looked at adults between the ages of 55 and 94 years of age who were participants in the Victoria Longitudinal Study in Victoria, British Columbia. Every 3 years, the participants completed an activity questionnaire and various computer-based reaction time tasks, among other health and psychological tests. Ms. Bielak and her colleagues analyzed the activity and reaction time data from the first 6 years of testing.

Results from the study showed that adults who participated in more activities had faster and more consistent responses in reaction time tests; however, changes in activity participation over the 6-year period did not result in corresponding changes in cognitive speed. Therefore, being active in the present may be a more important predictor of cognition than an individual's changes in activity participation.

Ms. Bielak is interested in researching what factors contribute to the differences in how individuals age, especially the influence of factors that can be changed, such as lifestyle. This was her first scientific article addressing the influence of activity engagement on cognition. She plans to further investigate the time lag in which activity impacts cognition.

Currently, in summer 2008, Ms. Bielak is completing her PhD in Psychology at the University of Victoria. She has received a Postdoctoral Fellowship from CIHR. She will be moving to Canberra, Australia for further training at the Australian National University, after which she plans to pursue a career in academia in Canada.