This variable is only available in MAP, MARS, and LATC.

Lifetime cognitive activity is a 37-item measure of frequency of participation in cognitively stimulating activities, issued at baseline. Participants are asked how often they engaged in cognitively stimulating activities during the following periods of life:

1. Childhood (11 items)
2. Young adult (10 items)
3. Middle adult (9 items)
4. Late life (7 items)

Participants are asked to rate each item on a 5-point scale. The overall score ranges from 1 to 5 and is the average of the 4 subscale scores. See subscale variables for details.

Note: The variable is calculated if at least half of the items are non-missing. Since the variable is calculated based on the number of valid items, independent of the subscale score calculations, participants may have a valid lifetime score but be missing one or more subscale scores.