BackgroundThe identification of factors that specifically influence pathological and successful cognitive aging is a prerequisite for implementing disease prevention and promoting successful aging. However, multi-domain behavioral factors that characterize the difference between successful and pathological cognitive aging are not clear yet.MethodsA group of community-dwelling older adults (N = 1347, aged 70-88 years) in Beijing was recruited in this cross-sectional study, and a sub-cohort was further divided into successful cognitive aging (SCA, N = 154), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, N = 256), and cognitively normal control (CNC, N = 173) groups. Analyses of variance, regression models with the Shapley value algorithm, and structural equation model (SEM) analyses were conducted to determine specific influencing factors and to evaluate their relative importance and interacting relationships in altering cognitive performance.ResultsWe found that abundant early-life cognitive reserve (ECR, including the level of education and occupational attainment) and reduced late-life leisure activity (LLA, including mental, physical, and social activities) were distinct characteristics of SCA and MCI, respectively. The level of education, age, mental activity, and occupational attainment were the top four important factors that explained 31.6% of cognitive variability. By SEM analyses, we firstly found that LLA partially mediated the relationship between ECR and cognition; and further multi-group SEM analyses showed ECR played a more direct role in the SCA group than in the MCI group: in the SCA group, only the direct effect of ECR on cognition was significant, and in the MCI group, direct effects between ECR, LLA and cognition were all significant.ConclusionsResults of this large-sample community-based study suggest it is important for older adults to have an abundant ECR for SCA, and to keep a high level of LLA to prevent cognitive impairment. This study clarifies the important rankings of behavioral characteristics of cognitive aging, and the relationship that ECR has a long-lasting effect on LLA and finally on cognition, providing efficient guidance for older adults to improve their cognitive function and new evidence to explain the heterogeneity of cognitive aging.