Does Brain Sweat Pay Off?: The Association between the Need for Cognition and Cognitive Function among the American Elderly

Background: The global incidence of impaired cognition increases with the overall aging of the population. Regarding prophylactic measures, it is unclear whether engaging in cognitively-stimulating activities can decrease the risk of cognitive impairment. Objective: To determine the association between Need for Cognition and cognitive ability within a representative mirroring sample of the elderly population in the United States. Methods: We evaluated the association between Need for Cognition (measured through cognitive effort and enjoyment scores) as a predictor and neurocognitive scores (number series, concept formation, calculations, word attack, picture vocabulary, auditory working memory and similarities) as outcomes using the CogUSA dataset. Results: A total of 1,174 participants of at least 64 years of age were part of this analysis. Participants attending college (49.4%) presented higher cognitive effort and enjoyment scores. The findings demonstrate a two-factor structure, the first related to neurocognitive tests and the second related to need for cognition, with good factor loadings. Conclusion: Need for Cognition and neurocognitive ability is strongly correlated and could perhaps be constructed as a single factor. Future research should focus on assessing the relationship between the Need for Cognition and cognitive function in the context of a multitude of other factors, thus determining the contribution of individual factors under different circumstances.