Eligible seniors who used food benefits under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) experienced slower cognitive decline than those who were eligible for but did not use SNAP, according to a new study from investigators at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York.

Colleen Heflin, associate dean, chair and professor of public administration and international affairs, says she likes that the paper is "helping us unpack how nutritional assistance is important for health outcomes."

"I think we have a general understanding of how it's important, but this really focuses on one key critical dimension for peoples' ability to live independently," says Heflin. "There are clear biological mechanisms through which this association makes sense, and it's also consistent with some of my own work, which looks at the other side of the coin."

Read more in the Neurology Today article, "Where Food Security May Make a Difference Seniors Who Use Food Benefits Experience Slower Memory Decline."