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Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Dementia Destroys Memory of Better Educated at
Faster Rate
Rate of cognitive decline accelerate 4% faster for
each year of education
Oct. 23, 2007 - People with more years of education
lose their memory faster than those with less education in the years
prior to a diagnosis of dementia, according to a study published in the
October 23, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the
American Academy of Neurology.
The study included 117 people who developed
dementia out of an original cohort of 488 people. Researchers followed
the participants for an average of six years using annual cognitive
tests. Study participants ranged in formal education levels of less than
three years of elementary school to people with postgraduate education.
The study found for each additional year of formal
education, the rapid accelerated memory decline associated with oncoming
dementia was delayed by about two-and-a-half months.
However, once that accelerated decline stopped, the
people with more education saw their rate of cognitive decline
accelerate four percent faster for each additional year of education.
Past research had shown that people with more education had more rapid
memory loss after diagnosis of dementia.
“Higher levels of education delay the onset of
dementia, but once it begins, the accelerated memory loss is more rapid
in people with more education,” said study author Charles B. Hall, PhD,
with Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York. “Our study
showed that a person with 16 years of formal education would experience
a rate of memory decline that is 50 percent faster than someone with
just four years of education.”
For example, a college graduate with 16 years of
education whose dementia is diagnosed at age 85 would have started to
experience accelerated memory decline nearly four years earlier at age
81. While a person with just four years of education who was also
diagnosed at age 85 would have begun to experience a less rapid rate of
decline around age 79, six years before diagnosis.
“This rapid decline may be explained by how people
with more education have a greater cognitive reserve, or the brain’s
ability to maintain function in spite of damage,” said Hall. “So while
they’re often diagnosed with dementia at a later date, once the
cognitive reserve is no longer able to compensate for the damage that’s
occurred, then the symptoms emerge.”
Hall says this is the first study to confirm
important predictions of the effects of cognitive reserve in people with
preclinical dementia. He also notes the study is limited since the
participants were born between 1894 and 1908 and their life experiences
and education may not represent that of people entering the study age
range today.
This study was supported by the National Institute
on Aging. Other researchers from the Einstein Aging Study involved in
the research included Carol Derby, PhD; Aaron LeValley, MA; Mindy J.
Katz, MPH; Joe Verghese, MD; and Richard B. Lipton, MD.
As part of a worldwide initiative led by the
Council of Science Editors, the October 23, 2007 issue of Neurology is a
global theme issue. Neurology® is one of 231 journals from around the
world participating in this significant event. The Council of Science
Editors is organizing this collaboration to bring attention to issues
affecting patients and practitioners in other nations with the goal of
cultivating interest and advancing research.
To view the list of participating journals and
other information on the National Institutes of Health event, visit
www.councilscienceeditors.org/globalthemeissue.cfm. A list of citations
to all articles published on this topic by the participating journals
will be available on this site on October 22, 2007.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association
of more than 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is
dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A
neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing,
treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as
stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and multiple
sclerosis.
For more information about the American Academy of
Neurology, visit
http://www.aan.com.
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