Early-life education improves memory in old age -- Especially for women

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/gumc-eei060420.php

News Release 5-Jun-2020
Georgetown University Medical Center


Education appears to protect older adults, especially women, against memory loss, according to a study by investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center, published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

The results suggest that children--especially girls--who attend school for longer will have better memory abilities in old age. This may have implications for memory loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

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The study tested individuals in a non-Western (Taiwanese) population. Participants varied in the number of years of education, from none at all to graduate studies. Future research is needed to test whether the findings generalize to other populations, Ullman says.

"These findings may be important, especially considering the rapidly aging population globally," Reifegerste says. "The results argue for further efforts to increase access to education."

"Education has also been found to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease," Ullman says. "We believe that our findings may shed light on why this occurs."