Introduction:

The process of demographic transition currently faced by Argentina and other Latin American countries brings multiple consequences in various facets of society. One of the social aspects where this phenomenon has a special incidence is in public health.

Objective:

To describe the relation between the type of recreational activities that older adults do and their cognitive and functional abilities.

Methods:

The sample consisted of 50 people (11 men and 39 women), over 60 years old who had no psychiatric diagnosis. For data collection were used the Neuropsi Test, the Instrumental Activities of daily life´s subscale of the Mongil test and a semi-directed interview to know what recreational activities the person said to perform.

Results:

It was found a positive correlation between the amount of recreational activities that the person said to perform and the score in the neuropsychological test. Correlations were also found between the amount of recreational activities and functional capacity, presenting a greater correlation the manual sporadic and group type activities. In addition, several specific recreational activities (such as yoga or reading) were correlated with specific cognitive functions.

Conclusions:

The correlations found between recreational activities and cognitive and functional abilities of older adults can be explained by mechanisms of neuronal plasticity, as it is long-term increase of those abilities. This makes recreational activities a potential resource for stimulation programs due to their variety and motivational/emotional content that can favor those mechanisms.

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