I recall another study of cloistered nuns with both . The researchers attributed their exceptionally long lives and the absence of Alzheimer's or dementia to their daily reading habits.

Just as muscles need exercise, so do our brains. Exercise only your arms, and your legs will grow weak. Likewise, we need to exercise our whole brain. The big question is what is mental exercise?

In my, obviously un-scientific experience, people who rely on memorized information they learned in school, struggle to absorb, or make sense of new information, new instructions, or new ideas - so they automatically reject them. People who are lifelong learners, tend to create new information, new instructions and new ideas that make it hard on people who are rote learners. I can't help but wonder, how this relates to Alzheimer's.