A sense of purpose in life sounds like it might be its own reward, but scientists have discovered that older adults who reported such feelings also had a reduced chance of developing dementia as they aged.

The study by researchers at the University of California Davis , and reported in the latest edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, is based on data collected from 13,765 participants aged 45 and older. They were surveyed between 2006 and 2020 as part of a long-term U.S.-based study, the Health and Retirement Study . All had normal cognitive functioning at the start of the study.

The team found that people who reported a higher sense of purpose in life were about 28 per cent less likely to develop cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment and deme

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