Abstract
International evidence suggests that green space has beneficial effects on general and mental health but little is known about how lifetime exposure to green space influences cognitive ageing. Employing a novel longitudinal life course approach, we examined the association between lifetime availability of public parks and cognitive ageing. Lifetime residential information was gathered from the participants of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 using a “life-grid” questionnaire at age 78 years. Parks information from 1949, 1969 and 2009 was used to determine a percentage of parks within a 1500 m buffer zone surrounding residence for childhood, adulthood, and later adulthood periods. Linear regressions were undertaken to test for association with age-standardised, residualised change in cognitive function (Moray House Test score) from age 11 to 70 years, and from age 70 to 76 (n = 281). The most appropriate model was selected using the results of a partial F-test, and then stratified by demographic, genetic and socioeconomic factors. The local provision of park space in childhood and adulthood were both important in explaining the change in cognitive function in later life. The association between childhood and adulthood park availability and change in the Moray House Test Score from age 70 to 76 was strongest for women, those without an APOE e4 allele (a genetic risk factor), and those in the lowest socioeconomic groups.Greater neighbourhood provision of public parks from childhood through to adulthood may help to slow down the rate of cognitive decline in later life, recognising that such environmental associations are always sensitive to individual characteristics.
Highlights
With the global increase in life expectancy, there is an urgent need to identify factors that affect changes in cognitive abilities as people age
We examined whether availability of green space was associated with agerelated changes in cognitive function between age 11 and 70 years, and between age 70 and 76 years
Men had lower scores at age 11, but were similar to women at age 70 and 76. Those in the skilled, partly skilled, unskilled Occupational Social Class (OSC) and carriers of the APOE e4 allele performed worse at each age
Summary
With the global increase in life expectancy, there is an urgent need to identify factors that affect changes in cognitive abilities as people age. Explanatory models of cognitive ageing posit a variety of demographic, genetic, behavioural and environmental factors contributing to cognitive function (Anstey, 2014). The focus of the current research is on how environmental conditions – or local green spaces - throughout life affect people's cognitive ageing relative to one another. There have been significant advances made in understanding the range of demographic, genetic, and behavioural factors affecting cognitive ageing. Cognitive function could be affected by a range of environmental or neighbourhood conditions including: local social capital; residential segregation; perceived safety and incivilities; availability of community resources such as food shops and other services; walkability; and the availability of public open space or local greenness T. Wu et al, 2015a)
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