A study intended to refine knowledge about age-related cognitive decline found that those who retain their mental agility longer are more likely to be female, to have completed more education, and to have been married at some point.
The study tracked close to 4,400 people aged 70 to 89 to determine who was most likely to develop a condition called mild cognitive impairment (MCI) -- a greater-than-average decline in mental performance. MCI often progresses to dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
“As a group, women were less likely at every age to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment than were men of the same age. Men and women who had been married at some point in their lives and those who had completed more schooling also had a lower likelihood of MCI at every age.”