Grandparents are often a gift to their children and grandchildren. They provide wisdom, affection, and even needed relief at times.

The opportunity to become a grandparent is a gift as well. It adds a sense of meaning and purpose to life, as well as a new level of enjoyment to life.

A study utilizing data from almost 10,000 grandparents revealed another gift grandparents receive, a gift that allows the gift to keep on giving. In this study, grandparents were interviewed three times in six years. During each interview, they were asked if they had “looked after their grandchildren without the child’s parents being present over the last two years.” If so, they were also asked how often they provided care, under what circumstances they provided care, and what kinds of activities they did with their grandchildren. In addition, they completed cognitive testing of verbal fluency and memory.

The results revealed that the caregiving grandparents had greater cognitive strength than non-caregiving grandparents at the time of each testing. They exhibited stronger verbal fluency and memory. Interestingly, any amount of caregiving proved beneficial to their cognition. The researchers suggest three aspects that may contribute to their greater cognitive strength:

1. Caring for grandchildren provides grandparents with the opportunities to remain active, moving their bodies and participating in “cognitive-stimulating activities.” Remaining active is associated with better cognitive strength.
2. Grandparents generally enjoy their grandchildren, so caring for them increases happiness. Happiness is associated with better cognition.
3. Caring for grandchildren can also give grandparents an added sense of meaning and purpose, which is also associated with better cognition.

All three of these factors may contribute to a grandparent’s greater cognitive strength as they care for their grandchildren. One caveat though. Although all grandparents benefited in the moment from caring for their grandchildren, it did not protect both grandmother and grandfather from cognitive decline. It only protected grandmothers from cognitive decline…not grandfathers. The researchers need to do further research to understand why this distinction arose.

Still, watching grandchildren proved beneficial for both grandparents’ cognitive health in the moment. So, if you want to keep grandma’s brain healthy, consider letting her babysit while you and your spouse go out to eat occasionally. You’ll enhance her brain health and your marriage at the same time!