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Educational attainment, structural brain reserve and Alzheimer's disease: a Mendelian randomization analysis
Aida Seyedsalehi, Varun Warrier, Richard A I Bethlehem, Benjamin I Perry, Stephen Burgess, Graham K Murray. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2023-05-02
Topic: Genetics and APOE
Higher educational attainment is observationally associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Genetically proxied educational attainment was inversely associated with Alzheimer's disease (odds ratio per standard deviation increase in genetically predicted years of schooling = 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.60, 0.80). Genetically proxied levels of surface area, cortical volume and intrinsic curvature were positively associated with educational attainment [standard deviation units change in years of schooling per one standard deviation increase in respective genetically predicted imaging phenotype: 0.13 (95% confidence interval 0.10, 0.16); 0.15 (95% confidence interval 0.11, 0.19) and 0.12 (95% confidence interval 0.04, 0.19)]. We found no evidence of associations between genetically predicted imaging-derived phenotypes and Alzheimer's disease. Our results provide support for a protective causal effect of educational attainment on Alzheimer's disease risk, as well as potential bidirectional causal relationships between education and brain macro- and micro-structure.
Key findings
- Higher educational attainment is observationally associated with lower risk of Alzheimer's disease.
- Genetically proxied educational attainment was inversely associated with Alzheimer's disease (odds ratio per standard deviation increase in genetically predicted years of schooling = 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.60, 0.80).
- Genetically proxied levels of surface area, cortical volume and intrinsic curvature were positively associated with educational attainment [standard deviation units change in years of schooling per one standard deviation increase in respective genetically predicted imaging phenotype: 0.13 (95% confidence interval 0.10, 0.16); 0.15 (95% confidence interval 0.11, 0.19) and 0.12 (95% confidence interval 0.04, 0.19)].
- We found no evidence of associations between genetically predicted imaging-derived phenotypes and Alzheimer's disease.
- Our results provide support for a protective causal effect of educational attainment on Alzheimer's disease risk, as well as potential bidirectional causal relationships between education and brain macro- and micro-structure.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 45/100
Published in a leading specialty 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 25 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 45 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| 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 | 3 / 5 | 2023 — within 6 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 36310536) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 25 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 25 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 45 out of 100. |
| Total | 45 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Seyedsalehi, A., Warrier, V., Bethlehem, R. A. I., Perry, B. I., Burgess, S., & Murray, G. K. (2023). Educational attainment, structural brain reserve and Alzheimer's disease: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac392
Vancouver
Seyedsalehi A, Warrier V, Bethlehem RAI, Perry BI, Burgess S, Murray GK. Educational attainment, structural brain reserve and Alzheimer's disease: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2023. doi:10.1093/brain/awac392. PMID: 36310536.
BibTeX
@article{seyedsalehi2023-36310536,
author = {Seyedsalehi, Aida and Warrier, Varun and Bethlehem, Richard A I and Perry, Benjamin I and Burgess, Stephen and Murray, Graham K},
title = {{Educational attainment, structural brain reserve and Alzheimer's disease: a Mendelian randomization analysis}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awac392},
pmid = {36310536},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac392}
}
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