Beyond “Use It or Lose It”: The Impact of Engagement on Cognitive Aging

Biologically based senescence processes and cumulative opportunities for experience collectively give rise to profound changes in cognition in later adulthood, the trajectories of which vary considerably across individuals. This review focuses on how cognitive aging is shaped by engagement—defined as the ongoing investment of personal resources (e.g., time, attention) to activities, social networks, and experiences—through the adult life span. We review evidence for the effects of different forms of engagement on cognitive aging and consider plausible mechanistic pathways for such effects. Working within an ecological framework, we consider “design solutions” for lifestyle engagement to shape adult cognitive development given the necessary trade-offs endemic to goal-directed systems (e.g., current needs versus long-term preparation, flexibility versus robustness, exploration versus exploitation). Given the limited evidence for broad-based effects of skill training on late-life cognitive health, we argue that a promising paradigm for successful cognitive aging will be to probe synergistic effects of engagement on cognitive aging. Recent developments in personal technology offer promise for innovation in intervention and in measurement.