Education has long been associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, but a new study reveals that this protection extends far beyond diplomas and degrees. Co-led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University, the study investigated how high school contexts, opportunities and outcomes shape midlife cognition even among people with the same completed degrees.
The research, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, expands upon previous research about education's protective effects against late-life cognitive impairment and offers new pathways for dementia prevention strategies.
"When we talk about education, the quality of your high school experience, not just whether you received a diploma or went on to college, shapes your brain health decades later," said lead author Chandra Muller, professor of sociology at UT. "Students who attend better-resourced schools and perform well academically tend to maintain stronger cognitive skills as they age. Unfortunately, when we only look at degrees earned, we miss this important part of the story. This means that improving our high schools today could help protect an entire generation from memory and cognition problems as they grow older."
The study used data from surviving members of the High School and Beyond (HS&B:80) cohort - a nationally representative and highly diverse sample of more than 27,000 Americans who were high school sophomores or seniors in 1980. This unique dataset allowed researchers to examine how early educational contexts and experiences relate to cognitive functioning four decades later.
Key findings include:
- Degree attainment predicts midlife cognitive functioning, but a large portion of that association is accounted for by students' high school academic performance as measured by test scores, grades and course completion.
- High school contexts and learning opportunities predict midlife cognition mainly because they play a role in shaping students' academic performance.
- Understanding the potential benefits of education for later-life cognitive functioning requires attention to broader schooling processes and to students' academic performance beyond degree attainment.
"What we've discovered is that it's about the entire educational journey," said John Robert Warren, co-lead author and professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. "Schools differ with respect to their resources and academic environments, and students certainly vary with respect to what they learn and accomplish in school. These inequalities create ripple effects that influence cognitive health decades later."
Other principal investigators include Eric Grodsky, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as Jennifer Manly and Adam Brickman, professors of neurology at Columbia University. Other collaborators include Koit Hung and Michael J. Culbertson of UT and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively.
Supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association, the findings highlight the importance of addressing educational opportunities early in life as a potential strategy for reducing disparities in cognitive aging.
