Working your mental muscle may protect the brain from the damaging effects of lead, says a study that tested smelter workers in Belledune, N.B.
The study tested 112 workers at the Xstrata Zinc Canada Brunswick lead smelter in the northern New Brunswick community, dividing them into two groups: those who read higher than a Grade 12 level and those who didn't.
The study found the workers' motor skills were affected equally by lead exposure, regardless of reading level.
However, that's where the similarities ended, said researcher Dr. Margit Bleecker of the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Neurology in Maryland.
"The people with high reading performance could actually protect themselves against the effects of lead on cognitive skills," Bleecker told CBC News Thursday.
The study found low-level readers were 2½ times more likely to have brain damage from lead than high-level readers.
Bleecker said that reading builds connections in the brain that can compensate for other areas that might be damaged by lead.
"Working on the development of your cognitive reserve through reading can actually be very protective."
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