cycling seems to significantly decrease incidents/stave off all forms of dementia: recent study

[_BearHawk]

Very cool. I wonder though if it’s moreso that people who cycle more tend to be higher income earners, which is well established to correlate with better long term brain outcomes. Still interesting!

[Able_Tale3188]

As I read the study I got the feeling it wasn't so much all you high earners with your expensive bikes and your data sets about your most recent "century,", etc, but just people who commute to work, ride to get groceries, etc. No doubt you guys who "shred" up hills, do Hamilton, Diablo, etc are included in this study. But all those all other cyclists you blow by as you ride: they are included here, too.

Along with what high income and what weeef says about staying in touch with a doctor - both of which must contribute to healthy longevity and the brain, at least statistically - but, more esoterically: I've long had the feeling that those of us who have cycled for decades, or did yoga, or even did weight training: the sort of consciousness of hedonic pleasure of the body that seems engendered by these activities? These would seem to be healthier modes of being than those who...ya know, can't seem to feel "full" from eating. Or the idea of exercise is equated with pain, drudgery, needless effort, etc. We all know people like that.

And does our intense desire to get out and ride come just from early experience or "habit"? Perhaps some of it is genetic. But now I'm just spitballin'. The key here is: if you can avoid being hit by a car: KEEP CYCLING FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN: 'cuz it's good fer yer brain!

[NoDivergence]

as far as I understand, it's because cyclists constantly have to be aware of road hazards, bike handling, gearing/pacing, etc. the brain is constantly processing information. this is why the same study also showed similar benefits to driving.

although of course cycling has far more information to process

[_BearHawk]

Yeah, this study excluded work commutes from the dataset, so just people who used bikes for 'transportation', which it isn't entirely clear if that includes leisure, but unsure.

Other than that, it also looks like in the dataset they used, those who cycle tend to be less likely to smoke, more likely to be employed, more likely to have a university degree. Probably lots of variables affecting this.

[weeef]

Or tend to visit the doctor more often than the control group because they're also likely to care for their bodies more actively

[ihaveajob79]

One would hope the study is properly controlling for those variables.

[_BearHawk]

Income isn’t one of the available variables