It's no surprise that reading and writing benefit cognitive acuity, but new findings have shed light on the extent to which the habits protect against ailments like dementia and Alzheimer's.
New findings suggest that picking up a book or learning a new language may, in fact, be one of the best things you do for your brain.
A new study from the United States has found that people who keep their minds active throughout life can slash their risk of Alzheimer's disease by almost 40 per cent.
The most beneficial activities include reading, writing and studying foreign languages – things millions of us already enjoy.
Habits like reading could help prevent or delay dementia
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The research suggests these simple habits could help prevent or delay dementia, which is set to affect more than 150 million worldwide by 2050.
Scientists at Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago tracked nearly 2,000 participants who were around 80 years old and dementia-free when the study began.
The team followed them for an average of eight years, gathering information about their mental activities across three distinct periods of life.
For early enrichment, before age 18, researchers looked at how often people were read to as children, whether they had access to books and newspapers at home, and if they'd spent more than five years learning another language.
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Middle-aged factors included income, household resources like library cards and dictionary ownership, plus visits to museums and libraries.
Later-life enrichment measured things like how often people read, wrote or play games in their older years.
Among those in the top 10 per cent for cognitive enrichment, just 21 per cent went on to develop Alzheimer's. Compare that to 34 per cent in the bottom 10 per cent – quite a difference.
People who kept their brains busy throughout life developed Alzheimer's at an average age of 94, while those with the least mental stimulation were diagnosed at 88 on average.
That's a six-year delay, which could mean everything for quality of life.
The study's lead author, Andrea Zammit, said cognitive health in later life was "strongly influenced" by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments.
"Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition," she said.
Regularly engaging in mentally stimulating activities could delay brain decline by 6 years
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Dr Isolde Radford from Alzheimer's Research UK, who wasn't involved in the research, welcomed the findings.
She said: "This new research shows that staying mentally active throughout life can cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease by nearly 40 per cent.
"This supports what we already know about the preventive steps people can take to reduce their risk of developing dementia."
The researchers did note one limitation – participants recalled their early and middle-life experiences later on, so memories may not have been entirely accurate.
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