Your reward for being good may indeed be in heaven — but new research shows that conscientiousness also yields mental advantages as we age.

Rush University researchers found a 90 percent lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease after analyzing data from the Religious Orders Study — a 12-year longitudinal investigation of aging and Alzheimer’s involving 1,000 older nuns, priests and monks from across America.

Conscientiousness connotes “an individual’s tendency to control impulses and be goal directed,” according to the Archives of General Psychiatry study. Conscientiousness was determined by participants’ answers to a personality test, which also measured neuroticism, extroversion, openness and agreeability. For example, a conscientious score was associated with statements such as, “I am a productive person who always gets the job done”; a neurotic score with “I often feel inferior to others”; and an extroverted score with “I laugh easily.”

A 12-year longitudinal investigation of aging and Alzheimer’s involved 1,000 older nuns, priests and monks from across America.

When these scores were compared against incidence of Alzheimer’s (ascertained by annual check-ups as well as postmortems of the deceased), researchers found that the most conscientious subjects had an 89 percent lower risk of developing the disease.

Of course, it’s quite possible to be godly without being conscientious, and vice versa. Indeed, all the members of the study were ecclesiastically inclined, yet some scored higher on the scale of being conscientious than others. At the same time, one doesn’t have to be a believer to be conscientious.

Related: Praise the Lord, Pass the Veggies

Yet there is something about being godly — prayerful, spiritual, pious — that encourages mindfulness about doing right, and avoiding wrong. It’s that kind of cultivated character that this study links to a lowered risk of Alzheimer’s.

Also noteworthy: While neuroticism was associated with higher rates of cognitive decline, the other personality traits — extroversion, openness and agreeability — had no effect on Alzheimer’s risk whatsoever.

So, in order to maintain mental acuity, keep to the straight and narrow. Here are other things you can do to maintain mental function:

  • Walk for one hour, three times a week.
  • Drink fruit and vegetable juice.
  • Eat more than two cups of veggies a day.
  • Start cooking with curry. The turmeric spice has proven anti-Alzheimer’s benefits.

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This article was originally created by the Dole Nutrition Institute, with additions and updates by LifeZette.