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Higher Educational Attainment and Accelerated Tau Accumulation in Alzheimer Disease
Yue Qin Cai, Lili Fang, Jie Yang, Xin Yu Zhou, Lin Liu, Anqi Li, Pan Sun, Guoyu Lan et al.. JAMA Neurology, 2025-07-07
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
This study included 887
Key findings
- Importance: The impact of educational attainment (EA) on longitudinal tau accumulation remains largely underexplored.
- Objective: To investigate the association of EA with tau accumulation in Alzheimer disease (AD).
- Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used 3 independent samples: the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI; October 2015-July 2022, mean follow-up: 3.0 years), Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease study (A4; 2014-2022, mean follow-up: 4.7 years), and Greater-Bay-Area Healthy Aging Brain Study (GHABS; July 2021-August 2024, mean interval from plasma collection to tau positron emission tomography [PET]: 1.0 years).
- The ADNI and GHABS represent Northern American and Southern Chinese populations, respectively.
- Participants with amyloid β (Aβ) and subsequent tau PET were included from ADNI, A4, and GHABS, and a subset had plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau) 217 (p-tau217) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) data.
Why it matters
This cohort study examined how educational attainment relates to the rate of tau accumulation over time in Alzheimer's disease. It is an observational analysis of risk and progression and does not test a treatment, cure or prevention.
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Study details
- Study designcohort study
- Participants887
- Effect size50.7%; 56.5%; 66.1%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | JAMA Neurology: journal h-index 235 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A cohort study following 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 | 2 / 4 | 887 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| 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 | 2 / 7 | Cited 9 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 9 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Paul A. Yushkevich: h-index 61 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Peking University: institution h-index 1,098 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 12 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40622710) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1801
- PubMed: 40622710
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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. Q., Fang, L., Yang, J., Zhou, X. Y., Liu, L., Li, A., et al. (2025). Higher Educational Attainment and Accelerated Tau Accumulation in Alzheimer Disease. JAMA Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1801
Vancouver
Cai YQ, Fang L, Yang J, Zhou XY, Liu L, Li A, et al. Higher Educational Attainment and Accelerated Tau Accumulation in Alzheimer Disease. JAMA Neurology. 2025. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1801. PMID: 40622710.
BibTeX
@article{cai2025-40622710,
author = {Cai, Yue Qin and Fang, Lili and Yang, Jie and Zhou, Xin Yu and Liu, Lin and Li, Anqi and Sun, Pan and Lan, Guoyu and others},
title = {{Higher Educational Attainment and Accelerated Tau Accumulation in Alzheimer Disease}},
journal = {JAMA Neurology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1801},
pmid = {40622710},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.1801}
}
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