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Originally Posted by jswinden
That makes sense to me. The brain needs to be exercised and reading is a great way to do that. I suspect working puzzles, doing mathematical calculations, and other mental actions can also be of great benefit. I read not long ago that every time we learn something new our brains do not simply store it away in a storage bucket. The brain actually re-wires itself as we learn new things. So it is kind of like defragmenting an old hard-drive. The brain re-wires itself creating new pathways and in the process can bypass damaged areas. So read, read, read!!!!
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I think it is more the mental exercise and not just the reading. If you found someone who solved differential equations for a retirement past time I'm sure you could say the same.
My dad died of Alzheimers. I had to move him close by for his last four years when he could no longer live on his own. First it was assisted living, then for the last year a nursing home. He kept a couple of books on his coffee table and seemed to pick them up and read from them from time to time, but he never changed the books. As his disease progressed the books went away but he still maintained an insistence on reading the newspaper every morning. I'd stop by on the way to work and find him in the common area having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Not sure how much of it he really read, but he'd spend a good 30 minutes flipping through it and having his coffee before breakfast.
I asked a couple of professionals about his behavior with reading. They told me that as the brain dies of Alzheimers reading is one of the last things to go. When his oral communication skills deteriorated badly I took to leaving him sticky notes all over his room. That seemed to work, at least for a while.
Did reading keep him alive longer? I don't know, but it was one of the last communicative tools I had with the exception of a good hug and 'I love you dad'.