Can Education Improve Cognitive Health in Older Adults?
The health of a person’s brain is commonly overlooked because the signs of brain deterioration are often not visible. However, cognitive health is a key part of one’s health and well-being, especially in later life. Cognitive health is the ability to think clearly and to understand, remember, and gain knowledge. Maintaining cognitive health is especially important for preserving a person’s quality of life in old age, as a decline in cognitive health can result in both physical and mental disability, dependence on others, more hospital visits, and even death. Furthermore, decreased cognitive health can be indicative of Alzheimzer’s disease, which leads to the destruction of important brain functions. Given cognitive health’s relevance to overall health and wellness, it is essential to be aware of how one’s lifestyle can impact cognition, which is affected by factors such as physical activity, diet, blood pressure, and stress levels.
Recently, researchers have studied the effects of another factor—education—on cognitive health in later life, attempting to see if higher levels of education would be beneficial for cognitive health in the long term. In order to limit the influence of potentially related factors such as household environment and genetics on cognitive health, researchers studied pairs of siblings, who were similar in both genetic makeup and household environment.
To conduct their analysis, researchers used existing data from the UK Biobank project, which is a large medical database containing both genetic and health information from over half a million participants. In order to measure cognition, participants completed timed logic puzzles that were evaluated based on correctness, and to measure education levels, researchers calculated the number of years each participant had been in school. As the biobank did not specify sibling relation, the researchers determined which participants were siblings based on their genetic similarities and ages. This resulted in a sample size of 4138 sets of twins. Finally, to account for participants’ genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease and other factors related to cognition, the researchers developed polygenic risk scores, which measure an individual’s genetic risk for a particular trait compared to others with different genes.
Recently, researchers have studied the effects of another factor—education—on cognitive health in later life, attempting to see if higher levels of education would be beneficial for cognitive health in the long term. In order to limit the influence of potentially related factors such as household environment and genetics on cognitive health, researchers studied pairs of siblings, who were similar in both genetic makeup and household environment.
To conduct their analysis, researchers used existing data from the UK Biobank project, which is a large medical database containing both genetic and health information from over half a million participants. In order to measure cognition, participants completed timed logic puzzles that were evaluated based on correctness, and to measure education levels, researchers calculated the number of years each participant had been in school. As the biobank did not specify sibling relation, the researchers determined which participants were siblings based on their genetic similarities and ages. This resulted in a sample size of 4138 sets of twins. Finally, to account for participants’ genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease and other factors related to cognition, the researchers developed polygenic risk scores, which measure an individual’s genetic risk for a particular trait compared to others with different genes.
Paid family leave is associated with improved mental health in parents, consequently giving them the ability to better care for their children.
Image Source: "Cognitive Foundations for Visual Analytics" by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - PNNL is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
This study concluded that schooling positively affects cognitive performance. The researchers found that participants with different levels of education had significantly different levels of cognitive ability in later life. Specifically, higher education levels were associated with higher levels of cognition. Though household environment and genetics play a notable role in cognition, the study found that even when these factors were controlled for, there was still a large association between education and cognition.
Despite these results, one major flaw of this study is that it only included data from those of European heritage and only used European samples as references. This means that the study failed to conduct important analyses on education and cognitive health for individuals of non-European racial and ethnic backgrounds. This is a substantial limitation because it makes the findings less applicable to diverse populations. It is crucial that this research be extended further; an important future research study would be studying cognitive health and its relationship with years of education in non-European racial groups. Some researchers have already begun to work towards this goal, as seen in one study on education and cognition using longitudinal survey data from South Africa.
In conclusion, the research did find an association between education and cognitive health in old age, even in siblings for which factors like family background are controlled. However, the study had significant limitations, and future research is necessary for results to be applicable to diverse populations.
Despite these results, one major flaw of this study is that it only included data from those of European heritage and only used European samples as references. This means that the study failed to conduct important analyses on education and cognitive health for individuals of non-European racial and ethnic backgrounds. This is a substantial limitation because it makes the findings less applicable to diverse populations. It is crucial that this research be extended further; an important future research study would be studying cognitive health and its relationship with years of education in non-European racial groups. Some researchers have already begun to work towards this goal, as seen in one study on education and cognition using longitudinal survey data from South Africa.
In conclusion, the research did find an association between education and cognitive health in old age, even in siblings for which factors like family background are controlled. However, the study had significant limitations, and future research is necessary for results to be applicable to diverse populations.
Featured Image Source: "What Are Qualities of Good Psychiatrist?" by Maheen Fatima is licensed under the public domain
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