The benefits of an education are generally framed in terms of the immediate future, especially when it comes to employment. Current research suggests, though, that education has a future benefit, too: staving off late-life cognitive decline.
Previously, results of research investigating whether there is an association between a greater number of years of education and attenuated rates of late-life cognitive decline have been inconsistent. Zahodne, Stern, and Manly undertook the task of more thoroughly exploring this relationship.
In an article to be published in the November 2014 issue of Neuropsychology, they outlined the three goals of their study:
- quantifying the relationship between years of education and late-life cognitive decline,
- determining whether years of education are associated with late-life cognitive decline only among individuals with relatively lower education, and
- testing whether associations between education and late-life cognitive decline are independent of or driven by lifetime advantage (defined by late-life income).
Zahodne et al. analyzed data from a racially, ethnically, and educationally diverse population of older adults in Manhattan who had participated in a community-based, prospective longitudinal study of aging and dementia (N = 3,435). Participants had completed neuropsychological tests of memory, language, visuospatial function, and processing speed at approximate 24-month intervals for up to 18 years.
To estimate direct and indirect effects of educational attainment on rates of cognitive decline, Zahodne et al. used second-order latent growth curve models, running data separately for individuals with low (0–8 years) and high (9–20 years) levels of educational attainment to discover any differences.
The study data revealed a number of interesting relationships.
First, more years of education were associated with higher cognitive level and slower cognitive decline in both groups, those with low and high levels of educational attainment.
The association between having more than 9 years of education and exhibiting slower cognitive decline was fully mediated by income. This result suggests that more education leads to higher income, which may influence late-life cognitive health through multiple, non–mutually exclusive pathways (e.g., greater access to high-quality health care, fewer stressors, more opportunity to participate in cognitively demanding occupations and hobbies).
Although additional years of education (up to 8 years) were also associated with higher income, this did not explain associations between education and cognitive change in the low-education group. This result suggests that early education may promote aspects of development during a sensitive period of childhood that protect against late-life cognitive decline independent of income.
Citation:
Zahodne, L. B., Stern, Y., & Manly, J. J. (in press). Different effects of education on cognitive decline in diverse elders with low versus high educational attainment. Neuropsychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0000141
Note: This article is in the Health Psychology & Medicine topic area. View more articles in the Health Psychology & Medicine topic area.