BABY BOOMERS SHOWING COGNITIVE DECLINE.

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In a reversal of trends, U.S. baby boomers scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning than did members of previous generations, according to a study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

Findings show that average cognition scores of adults aged 50 and older increased from generation to generation, beginning with the greatest generation (bom 1890-1923) and peaking among war babies (born 1942-47). Scores began to decline in the early baby boomers (bom 1948-53) and decreased further in the mid baby boomers (bom 1954-59).

While the prevalence of dementia recently has declined in the U.S., these results suggest those trends may reverse in the coming decades, according to study author Hui Zheng, professor of sociology at Ohio State University, Columbus.

"It is shocking to see this decline in cognitive functioning among baby boomers after generations of increases in test scores, but what was most surprising to me is that this decline is seen in all groups: men and women, across all races and ethnicities, and across all education, income, and...