A recent Mayo Clinic study proves what we’ve been trying to tell you. Reading books, playing games, participating in computer activities and crafting leads to a 30 to 50 percent decrease in the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment in middle age and later life. People who watched television for less than seven hours a day in later years were 50 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than those who watched more than seven hours of television per day. Additionally, individuals who participated in social activities and READ MAGAZINES (editor’s note: surely, online magazines are even better) during middle age were about 40 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than those who did not participate in those activities. The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting.  Yonas Geda, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychiatrist and author of this study,  says the research is exciting because it demonstrates that aging doesn’t need to be a passive process. “By simply engaging in cognitive exercise, you can protect against future memory loss,” says Geda. We think it’s exciting because it proves you should be reading Exurb daily and, while it didn’t mention anything about leaving comments, we bet that also keeps you very, very young.