ArticleNature medicine2025
Reevaluating the role of education on cognitive decline and brain aging in longitudinal cohorts across 33 Western countries.
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Article in Nature medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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23citing papers in PubMed
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bilingualism and cognitive aging in ethnically diverse older adults: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- A world view: Considerations of sociocultural diversity in the study of subjective cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Cohort Profile Update: cognition and ageing in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (SHARE-HCAP).International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Probing effect modification by socioeconomic status in associations between blood biomarkers of neuropathology and cognitive outcomes in the United States and India.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Associations between greenspace and memory: Evidence from the COMPASS cohort in Chicago.Environmental research · 2026Article
- The association between lifetime marital histories and later-life cognitive function: evidence from the United States and China.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Theoretical and practical challenges for capturing reserve and resilience in aging and Alzheimer's disease: A narrative review.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Development and validation of the lifetime sense of safety scale in Kenyan adults.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Outcome-specific risk factors challenge universal dementia prevention priorities: Findings from the Egyptian Dementia Network Registry.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Pain, sleep complaints, and depressive symptom clusters and their association with cognitive decline in older Mexican Americans.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- MethylCog predicts six-year cognitive ability beyond blood-based ADRD biomarkers.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Brain maintenance biomarkers from structural and functional interactions in aging and neurodegeneration.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Adherence to Healthy Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Performance: Evidence from DASH and Mediterranean Diets.Nutrients · 2026Article
- The impact of education on dementia: Evidence from compulsory schooling reforms in England.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Article
- Dissociable contributions of cortical thickness and surface area to cognitive ageing: evidence from multiple longitudinal cohorts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Fifteen years on: a review of the Cam-CAN study of the cognitive neuroscience of ageing.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Brain age gradients as intermediate phenotypes linking plasma p-tau217 to cognition in community-dwelling older adults.NPJ dementia · 2026Article
- Vulnerability to memory decline in aging revealed by a mega-analysis of structural brain change.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Does education promote resilience and brain health in those with exceptional longevity? The LifeAfter90 study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Complementary MR measures of white matter and their relation to cardiovascular health and cognition.Scientific reports · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
23 authors.
Anders M FjellCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. andersmf@psykologi.uio.no.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2502-8774
Ole RogebergRagnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo, Norway.
Øystein SørensenCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Inge K AmlienCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
David Bartrés-FazDepartment of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Andreas M BrandmaierCenter for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8765-6982
Gabriele CattaneoInstitut Guttmann, Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitació adscrit a la UAB, Barcelona, Spain.
Sandra DüzelCenter for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Håkon GrydelandCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Richard N HensonMRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Simone KühnMax Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6823-7969
Ulman LindenbergerCenter for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Torkild Hovde LyngstadDepartment of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7830-9305
Athanasia M MowinckelCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Lars NybergCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3367-1746
Alvaro Pascual-LeoneHinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8975-0382
Cristina Solé-PadullésDepartment of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Markus H SneveCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7644-7915
Javier SolanaInstitut Guttmann, Institut Universitari de Neurorehabilitació adscrit a la UAB, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0880-7856
Marie StrømstadCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Leiv Otto WatneOslo Delirium Research Group, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0441-6700
Kristine B WalhovdCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Didac Vidal-PiñeiroCenter for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Funding
HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8MProject 1U19AG024904 · NIA · NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE/RES/EDU · PI MONICA G. RIVERA-MINDT · 2016 to 2026
$226.7MAlzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - SupplementU01AG024904 · NIA · NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE RES &EDUC · PI WEINER, MICHAEL W · 2004 to 2015
$121.0MSmartphone-Based "Burst" Cognitive AssessmentsP01AG003991 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI JOHN MORRIS · 1985 to 2026
$69.5MUnderstanding and Improving Healthcare Decision-Making and Outcomes for People Living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related DementiasP01AG005842 · NIA · NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH · PI KOSALI ILAYPERUMA SIMON · 1986 to 2026
$56.5MWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ALZHEIMERS DISEASE RESEARCH CENTERP50AG005681 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI MORRIS, JOHN · 1985 to 2019
$52.1MVascular factors, physical activity, and inflammation as modulators of neurodegenerative and cognitive trajectories (Project 2)P01AG036694 · NIA · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI Hyun-Sik Yang · 2010 to 2026
$50.2MThe natural history of AB accumulation in preclinical ADP01AG026276 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI MORRIS, JOHN · 2005 to 2025
$49.5MWashington University Institute of Clinical and Translational SciencesUL1TR000448 · NCATS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI EVANOFF, BRADLEY A · 2012 to 2016
$41.4MThe VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging (VETSA 4)R01AG050595 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ELMAN, JEREMY A, FRANZ, CAROL ELAINE · 2015 to 2024
$28.0MThe VETSA Longitudinal MRI Twin Study of AgingR01AG022381 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI KREMEN, WILLIAM S. · 2003 to 2019
$22.3MWEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG MATURE AND OLDER ADULTSP01AG008291 · NIA · RAND CORPORATION · PI HURD, MICHAEL D · 1989 to 2018
$19.4MEC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 283634EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 313440EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 677804EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 725025EC | EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 | H2020 Priority Excellent Science | H2020 European Research Council (H2020 Excellent Science - European Research Council) 732592Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Inc.) R01AG076708NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000448NIA NIH HHS HHSN271201300071CNIA NIH HHS P01 AG003991NIA NIH HHS P01 AG005842NIA NIH HHS P01 AG008291NIA NIH HHS P01 AG026276NIA NIH HHS P01 AG036694NIA NIH HHS P30 AG012815NIA NIH HHS P50 AG005681NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018384NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018386NIA NIH HHS R01 AG022381NIA NIH HHS R01 AG043434NIA NIH HHS R01 AG050595NIA NIH HHS R01 AG052527NIA NIH HHS R01 AG056329NIA NIH HHS R01 AG063944NIA NIH HHS R01 AG076708NIA NIH HHS R01 AG076838NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG076708NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740NIA NIH HHS U01 AG024904NIA NIH HHS U19 AG024904NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB009352Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway) 262453Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway) 324882Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway) 325001, 301395, 239889, 249931Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway) 325415Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway) 325878Wellcome Trust
Abstract
Why education is linked to higher cognitive function in aging is fiercely debated. Leading theories propose that education reduces brain decline in aging and enhances tolerance to brain pathology or that it does not affect cognitive decline but, rather, reflects higher early-life cognitive function. To test these theories, we analyzed 407,356 episodic memory scores from 170,795 participants older than 50 years, alongside 15,157 brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 6,472 participants across 33 Western countries. More education was associated with better memory, larger intracranial volume and slightly larger volume of memory-sensitive brain regions. However, education did not protect against age-related decline or weakened effects of brain decline on cognition. The most parsimonious explanation for the results is that the associations reflect factors present early in life, including propensity of individuals with certain traits to pursue more education. Although education has numerous benefits, the notion that it provides protection against cognitive or brain decline is not supported.
Indexed as
AgingBrainCognitionCognitive DysfunctionEducational StatusAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMemory, EpisodicMiddle Aged
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