Unlike Alzheimer’s, old-age dementia is not a degenerative disease but rather refers to the diminished ability to remember, speak or organize thoughts with age. A recent study found an association between growing up with at least one full shelf of books and better memory and fluency in old age. The research, co-led by Dr. Galit Weinstein (Head, Epidemiology Department at the School of Public Health) and colleagues from BGU and the Israel Gerontological Data Center, is based on analyses of hundreds of thousands of health surveys and questionnaires documented in the database Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The findings were published in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. MORE IN THE JERUSALEM POST

*Photo to taken at the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library. | Credit: M.Zreik