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A person's memory declines at a faster rate in the two-and-a-half years before death than at any other time after memory problems first begin according to a new research.

The study found that at an average of about two-and-a-half years before death, different memory and thinking abilities tended to decline together at rates that were 8 to 17 times faster than before this terminal period.

"The findings suggest that the changes in mental abilities during the two to three years before death are not driven directly by processes related to Alzheimer's disease, but instead that the memory and other cognitive decline may involve some biological changes in the brain specific to the end of life," noted author Hiroko H. Dodge, Ph.D., with Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

Another study shows that keeping mentally fit through board games or reading may be the best way to preserve memory during late life. Both studies are published in the April 4, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"In our first study, we used the end of life as a reference point for research on memory decline rather than birth or the start of the study," said study author Robert S. Wilson, Ph.D., of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

The results showed that people's participation in mentally stimulating activities and their mental functioning declined at similar rates over the years. 

The researchers also found that they cocould predict participants' level of cognitive functioning by looking at their level of mental activity the year before but that level of cognitive functioning did not predict later mental activity.

"The results suggest a cause and effect relationship: that being mentally active leads to better cognitive health in old age," he added.