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Educational attainment, Aβ, tau, and structural brain reserve in Alzheimer's disease
Yue Cai, Lili Fang, Anqi Li, Jie Yang, Xin Zhou, Zhengbo He, Pan Sun, Qingyong Wang et al.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2025-01-24
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
A+/High-EA individuals exhibited slower cognitive decline in global cognition and language domains than A+/Low-EA individuals. This cognitive benefit was independently and synergistically explained by reduced AD pathology, including lower Aβ and tau burdens, as well as preserved GMV. Additionally, High-EA individuals experienced a median delay of 1.9 years in the onset of significant brain atrophy among A+ individuals. These findings highlight the independent and synergistic contributions of EA-associated AD pathology and GMV alterations to longitudinal cognitive decline. HIGHLIGHTS: Alzheimer's disease (AD) individuals with high educational attainment (EA) show slower declines in global cognition and language. EA-related slower cognitive decline is linked to reduced tau and greater gray matter volume in AD. AD individuals with high EA show a median 1.9 year delayed onset of brain atrophy.
Key findings
- A+/High-EA individuals exhibited slower cognitive decline in global cognition and language domains than A+/Low-EA individuals.
- This cognitive benefit was independently and synergistically explained by reduced AD pathology, including lower Aβ and tau burdens, as well as preserved GMV.
- Additionally, High-EA individuals experienced a median delay of 1.9 years in the onset of significant brain atrophy among A+ individuals.
- These findings highlight the independent and synergistic contributions of EA-associated AD pathology and GMV alterations to longitudinal cognitive decline.
- HIGHLIGHTS: Alzheimer's disease (AD) individuals with high educational attainment (EA) show slower declines in global cognition and language.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- 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 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 35 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 63 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 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 39854134) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 35 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 35 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 63 out of 100. |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Cai, Y., Fang, L., Li, A., Yang, J., Zhou, X., He, Z., et al. (2025). Educational attainment, Aβ, tau, and structural brain reserve in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14400
Vancouver
Cai Y, Fang L, Li A, Yang J, Zhou X, He Z, et al. Educational attainment, Aβ, tau, and structural brain reserve in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2025. doi:10.1002/alz.14400. PMID: 39854134.
BibTeX
@article{cai2025-39854134,
author = {Cai, Yue and Fang, Lili and Li, Anqi and Yang, Jie and Zhou, Xin and He, Zhengbo and Sun, Pan and Wang, Qingyong and others},
title = {{Educational attainment, Aβ, tau, and structural brain reserve in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer's \& dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1002/alz.14400},
pmid = {39854134},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14400}
}
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