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Education amplifies brain atrophy effect on cognitive decline: implications for cognitive reserve
Dan Mungas, Brandon Gavett, Evan Fletcher, Sarah Tomaszewski Farias, Charles DeCarli, Bruce Reed. Neurobiology of aging, 2018-04-12
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
Level of education is often regarded as a proxy for cognitive reserve in older adults. This implies that brain degeneration has a smaller effect on cognitive decline in those with more education, but this has not been directly tested in previous research. We examined how education, quantitative magnetic resonance imaging-based measurement of brain degeneration, and their interaction affect cognitive decline in diverse older adults spanning the spectrum from normal cognition to dementia. Gray matter atrophy was strongly related to cognitive decline. While education was not related to cognitive decline, brain atrophy had a stronger effect on cognitive decline in those with more education. Importantly, high education was associated with slower decline in individuals with lesser atrophy but with faster decline in those with greater atrophy. This moderation effect was observed in Hispanics (who had high heterogeneity of education) but not in African-Americans or Caucasians. These results suggest that education is an indicator of cognitive reserve in individuals with low levels of brain degeneration, but the protective effect of higher education is rapidly depleted as brain degeneration progresses.
Key findings
- Importantly, high education was associated with slower decline in individuals with lesser atrophy but with faster decline in those with greater atrophy.
- These results suggest that education is an indicator of cognitive reserve in individuals with low levels of brain degeneration, but the protective effect of higher education is rapidly depleted as brain degeneration progresses.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 39 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neurobiology of aging) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29798764) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 22 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 39 out of 100. |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Mungas, D., Gavett, B., Fletcher, E., Farias, S. T., DeCarli, C., & Reed, B. (2018). Education amplifies brain atrophy effect on cognitive decline: implications for cognitive reserve. Neurobiology of aging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.04.002
Vancouver
Mungas D, Gavett B, Fletcher E, Farias ST, DeCarli C, Reed B. Education amplifies brain atrophy effect on cognitive decline: implications for cognitive reserve. Neurobiology of aging. 2018. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.04.002. PMID: 29798764.
BibTeX
@article{mungas2018-29798764,
author = {Mungas, Dan and Gavett, Brandon and Fletcher, Evan and Farias, Sarah Tomaszewski and DeCarli, Charles and Reed, Bruce},
title = {{Education amplifies brain atrophy effect on cognitive decline: implications for cognitive reserve}},
journal = {Neurobiology of aging},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.04.002},
pmid = {29798764},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.04.002}
}