TV Viewing Tied to Cognitive Decline in Those Over Age 50

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH, and William E. Chavey, MD, MS

Adults over age 50 who watch several hours of television daily may be at increased risk for cognitive decline, according to a longitudinal study in Scientific Reports.

Researchers studied nearly 3600 dementia-free adults aged 50 and older who completed cognitive assessments and reported how much TV they watched at baseline. At follow-up 6 years later, those who had reported watching over 3.5 hours of TV daily showed greater declines in verbal memory than those who'd reported watching less than 2.5 hours daily. Additionally, the declines increased with increasing amounts of TV watched. The associations remained significant after adjustment for numerous confounders, including markers of sedentary behavior.

Meanwhile, TV viewing was not significantly associated with another measure of cognition, semantic fluency.

The researchers speculate that the "alert-passive" nature of TV viewing may contribute to the cognitive declines observed; also, TV may replace other mentally stimulating activities.