In 2023 University of Texas at Dallas researchers found evidence to support the theory that people living in environments that are more geographically complex are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. In a new follow-up study, the team has identified processes in the brain that help explain how these two things could be connected. The sample group comprised patients ages 45 to 93 who had made at least two visits to one of the Alzheimer’s disease research centers, had an MRI within six months of the most recent visit, and had lived in the same three-digit ZIP code over the course of all their visits. Participants were cognitively healthy or had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s. “Will people who rely on spatial navigation in their careers fare better in terms of delayed onset of mild cognitive impairment or AD?” she said.