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Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia
Hall CB, Derby C, LeValley A, Katz MJ, Verghese J, Lipton RB.. Neurology, 2007-10-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To test the cognitive reserve hypothesis by examining the effect of education on memory decline during the preclinical course of dementia. Background Low education is a well known risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD). Persons destined to develop AD experience an accelerated rate of decline in cognitive ability, particularly in memory. The cognitive reserve hypothesis predicts that persons with greater education begin to experience acceleration in cognitive decline closer to the time of diagnosis than persons with lower reserve, but that their rate of decline is more rapid after the time of acceleration due to increased disease burden. Methods We studied the influence of education on rates of memory decline as measured by the Buschke Selective Reminding Test in 117 participants with incident dementia in the Bronx Aging Study. Subjects had detailed cognitive assessments at entry and at annual follow-up visits. We estimated the time at which the rate of decline begins to accelerate (the change point), and the pre- and post-acceleration rates of decline, from the longitudinal data using a change point model. Results Each additional year of formal education delayed the time of accelerated decline on the Buschke Selective Reminding Test by 0.21 years. Post-acceleration, the rate of memory decline was increased by 0.10 points per year for each year of additional formal education. Conclusions As predicted by the cognitive reserve hypothesis, higher education delays the onset of accelerated cognitive decline; once it begins it is more rapid in persons with more education.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Hall, C. B., Derby, C., LeValley, A., Katz, M. J., Verghese, J., & Lipton, R. B. (2007). Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000278163.82636.30
Vancouver
Hall CB, Derby C, LeValley A, Katz MJ, Verghese J, Lipton RB. Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia. Neurology. 2007. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000278163.82636.30. PMID: 17954781.
BibTeX
@article{hall2007-17954781,
author = {Hall, C. B. and Derby, C. and LeValley, A. and Katz, M. J. and Verghese, J. and Lipton, R. B.},
title = {{Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000278163.82636.30},
pmid = {17954781},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000278163.82636.30}
}
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Key findings
- Results Each additional year of formal education delayed the time of accelerated decline on the Buschke Selective Reminding Test by 0.21 years.
Why it matters
In this longitudinal study, each additional year of formal education delayed the start of accelerated memory decline by 0.21 years, but after that point memory declined faster for each additional year of education. This supports the cognitive reserve hypothesis but does not show that education prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants117
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2007 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 117 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 258 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 12.3 citations a year over 21 year(s) since 2007 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 6.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 17 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 30 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Richard B. Lipton: h-index 183 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Arizona State University: institution h-index 987 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17954781) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
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