BMJ  2005;331 (16 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7509.0-c

Intelligence doesn't make older people (un)happy

In people without dementia, cognitive ability at age 11 and at age 79, as well as changes in cognition during their lifetime, are not associated with satisfaction with life in old age. Gow and colleagues (p 141) used the Moray House test to assess cognition and the satisfaction with life scale to assess satisfaction with life in the Lothian birth cohort 1921, 550 people who are now elderly. Although intelligence doesn't predict happiness, other factors might need to be better understood in order to promote successful ageing, say the authors.

Credit: MARK HALL/PHOTONICA/GETTY

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Lifetime intellectual function and satisfaction with life in old age: longitudinal cohort study

Alan J Gow, Martha C Whiteman, Alison Pattie, Lawrence Whalley, John Starr, and Ian J Deary
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