An international study published in the journal Nature Medicine casts doubt on the widespread belief that higher levels of formal education directly protect against cognitive decline and brain ageing. The study analysed longitudinal data from more than 170,000 people in 33 western countries, making it one of the largest studies of cognitive ageing to date. The University of Barcelona and the Institut Guttmann are the only two centres in Spain to participate in the study, led by the University of Oslo (Norway) as part of the European Lifebrain consortium.
The results reinforce the need for policies and programmes to promote brain health that go beyond cognitive activity and span the entire life course, not just in childhood and youth.
According to previous studies, although the total number of people with dementia worldwide is increasing due to population growth and ageing, the incidence appears to be decreasing and older adults have better cognitive function today than they did 20 years ago. This trend is attributed to lifestyle changes in the population, and until now, the most widely held hypothesis held that formal education may provide protection against neurodegeneration or normal brain ageing.
However, the team has found that although people with more years of formal education tend to start with a higher cognitive level in adulthood, they do not experience slower cognitive decline with age.
