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Published on: October 13, 2016
Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia
C B Hall1, C Derby, A LeValley
1Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462, USA. chall@aecom.yu.edu
Neurology
|October 24, 2007
Summary
Higher education delays the onset of accelerated memory decline in dementia. However, once decline begins, it progresses more rapidly in individuals with more years of formal education, supporting the cognitive reserve hypothesis.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Aging
- Dementia Research
Background:
- Low education is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- Individuals with AD experience accelerated cognitive decline, particularly in memory.
- The cognitive reserve hypothesis posits that higher education delays the onset of accelerated decline but may increase its rate post-onset.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between education and memory decline in the preclinical stage of dementia.
- To test the predictions of the cognitive reserve hypothesis regarding education's influence on cognitive decline trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 117 participants with incident dementia in the Bronx Aging Study.
- Assessed memory decline using the Buschke Selective Reminding Test.
- Employed a change point model to estimate the onset of accelerated decline and pre- and post-acceleration rates.
Main Results:
- Each additional year of education delayed the onset of accelerated memory decline by 0.21 years.
- The rate of memory decline after acceleration increased by 0.10 points per year for each additional year of education.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the cognitive reserve hypothesis.
- Higher education delays the initiation of accelerated cognitive decline in dementia.
- Once accelerated decline commences, it proceeds more rapidly in individuals with greater educational attainment.
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