More Education Could Equate Less Alzheimer’s
The American Academy of Neurology recently published a study that investigates the connection between education and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The researchers analyzed data from over 120 adult participants, comparing the influence of education, genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s (APOE), and presence of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.
For all participants, with or without genetic markers for Alzheimer’s, years of education made a positive difference: those with under 10 years had approximately double the amount of amyloid plaques as those with over 16 years of education.
In other words, increased years of education may reduce the development of harmful plaques in the brain, whether or not a person has the APOE genetic marker for Alzheimer’s disease. This is encouraging news for us all, and strong motivation to pursue ongoing education no matter your age!
MBJ
By Terissa Michele Miller, MS Psy
Check out the original research: