Does education protect against dementia and related mental decline?

How does improved education affect dementia risk??

It has long been believed that increased education can better protect people from the consequences of brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. Numerous studies have suggested in the past that the likelihood of dementia in less well-educated people is lower. However, a recent study has come to the conclusion that there is little difference in the risk of developing dementia due to the disease.

Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center found in their recent research that it does not make much of a difference in the risk of developing dementia as to what kind of education the sufferer has. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Neurology".

Education does not protect against mental deterioration through dementia

Education does not appear to have much impact on reducing or slowing down the damage to brain cells caused by dementia, or the rate at which mental deterioration progresses. It has long been believed that education could be a factor that better protects people from brain disease, said study author Professor Robert S. Wilson of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

How does education affect cognitive functioning in old age??

The effects of education on the brain are more like the effects of weightlifting on the muscles. The more education a person has, the bigger certain areas of the brain become and the more connections there are between the synapses, explains the expert. Those with better education begin with a higher level of cognitive functioning in old age, Professor Wilson further explains. This explains why the rates of dementia seem to be lower in highly educated people than in other people. However, a higher level of education does not slow down the rate at which people's thinking and memory subside, the study author adds.

Examination had just under 3,000 subjects

For their current study, the researchers analyzed data from the Religious Order Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project. Subjects from both studies were examined annually for cognitive changes. They also agreed to donate their brains for autopsy if they died. The 2,889 participants had an average age of 16.5 years, an average age of 77.8 years and no signs of dementia when they participated in the two studies. At the end of the current study, 1,044 subjects died and 696 patients were diagnosed with dementia.

Education improved results in thinking and memory tests

Depending on their level of education, the researchers divided the subjects into three different groups: 12 or fewer years, 13 to 16 years and 17 or more years. Although many of the participants had been schooling for many years, it became clear that more education at the beginning of the study led to better results in memory and memory tests. However, after the decline in intellectual achievement began, the existing education had no impact on the rate of decline, say the medical profession.

Protective effect of cognitively stimulating activities in old age

Professor Wilson suggests that although education did not affect the rate of decline, learning new things in old age could make a difference. People who are more concerned with cognitively stimulating activities as they grow older seem to be more tolerant of the pathology of brain diseases. Concerned people are less likely to mentally degrade compared to people who are not so cognitively active, explains the expert. Another factor that helps people stay mentally healthy is physical activity. A previous study had already shown that aerobic exercise, in people between the ages of 20 and 67 years, causes a significant increase in mental functions and increasing thickness in the frontal cortex of the brain. (As)