What does it mean to be cognitively and socially active in the context of dementia risk reduction? An integrative review

OBJECTIVES: To examine how cognitive and social activities are defined by identifying relevant attributes in the literature on brain aging and dementia risk reduction. METHOD: Using an integrative review, we analysed definitions across 43 academic and 37 grey records to formulate definitions. RESULTS: We observed substantial heterogeneity in terminology to describe concepts and their attributes. Nine higher-order attributes were identified: interacting with others, cognitive functions, information processing, cognitive demand, novelty, personal control, purpose, quantitative aspects, and context. A main finding was the overlap between cognitive and social activities, as both inherently involve information processing and cognitive functions. Despite the overlap, they also had distinct attributes. Specifically, cognitive activities often involve novelty, while social activities involve interaction with others and emotional purposes, such as a sense of belonging and emotional and social support. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that currently available measurements over-rely on assessment of quantitative aspects such as frequency and duration, while neglecting the more subjective attributes such as perceived novelty, personal control, and purpose. These synthesized concepts support the development of measurement instructions and more comprehensive measurement instruments. Better measures allow for pinpointing what makes cognitive and social activities protective and may be useful to determine which participants could improve their activity engagement for healthy brain aging.