Educational attainment does not influence brain aging

Lars Nyberg; Fredrik Magnussen; Anders Lundquist; William Baaré; David Bartrés-Faz; Lars Bertram; C. J. Boraxbekk; Andreas M. Brandmaier; Christian A. Drevon; Klaus Ebmeier; Paolo Ghisletta; Richard N. Henson; Carme Junqué; Rogier Kievit; Maike Kleemeyer; Ethan Knights; Simone Kühn; Ulman Lindenberger; Brenda W.J.H. Penninx; Sara Pudas; Øystein Sørensen; Lídia Vaqué-Alcázar; Kristine B. Walhovd; Anders M. Fjell

doi:10.1073/pnas.2101644118

Educational attainment does not influence brain aging

Lars Nyberg^*, Fredrik Magnussen, Anders Lundquist, William Baaré, David Bartrés-Faz, Lars Bertram, C. J. Boraxbekk, Andreas M. Brandmaier, Christian A. Drevon, Klaus Ebmeier, Paolo Ghisletta, Richard N. Henson, Carme Junqué, Rogier Kievit, Maike Kleemeyer, Ethan Knights, Simone Kühn, Ulman Lindenberger, Brenda W.J.H. Penninx, Sara PudasØystein Sørensen, Lídia Vaqué-Alcázar, Kristine B. Walhovd, Anders M. Fjell^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

68 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Education has been related to various advantageous lifetime outcomes. Here, using longitudinal structural MRI data (4,422 observations), we tested the influential hypothesis that higher education translates into slower rates of brain aging. Cross-sectionally, education was modestly associated with regional cortical volume. However, despite marked mean atrophy in the cortex and hippocampus, education did not influence rates of change. The results were replicated across two independent samples. Our findings challenge the view that higher education slows brain aging.

Original language	English
Article number	2101644118
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	118
Issue number	18
ISSN	0027-8424
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101644118
Publication status	Published - 04.05.2021

Funding

Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition—European Research Council under Grant Agreements 283634 and 725025 (to A.M.F.) and 313440 (to K.B.W.), as well as the Norwegian Research Council (to A.M.F. and K.B.W.); University of Barcelona—partial support by a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (European Regional Development Fund; RTI2018-095181-B-C21) to D.B.-F., who was also supported by an Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies Academia 2019 grant award; by the Walnuts and Healthy Aging study (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Grant NCT01634841) funded by the California Walnut Commission, Sacramento, CA; BASE-II—supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under Grants 16SV5537/ 16SV5837/16SV5538/16SV5536K/01UW0808/01UW0706/01GL1716A/01GL1716B. S.K. has received support from the European Research Council under Grant Agreement 677804; Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience—initial funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, followed by support from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. Part of the research was conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application 32048. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was supported by European Union–Horizon 2020 Grant: “Healthy Minds 0–100 Years: Optimising the Use of European Brain Imaging Cohorts (‘Lifebrain’)” (Grant/Award 732592); Betula—a Scholar grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (to L.N.); Center for

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1073/pnas.2101644118

Cite this

Nyberg, L., Magnussen, F., Lundquist, A., Baaré, W., Bartrés-Faz, D., Bertram, L., Boraxbekk, C. J., Brandmaier, A. M., Drevon, C. A., Ebmeier, K., Ghisletta, P., Henson, R. N., Junqué, C., Kievit, R., Kleemeyer, M., Knights, E., Kühn, S., Lindenberger, U., Penninx, B. W. J. H., ... Fjell, A. M. (2021). Educational attainment does not influence brain aging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(18), Article 2101644118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101644118

@article{63673c8bd45044078e214d154b28dbd7,

title = "Educational attainment does not influence brain aging",

abstract = "Education has been related to various advantageous lifetime outcomes. Here, using longitudinal structural MRI data (4,422 observations), we tested the influential hypothesis that higher education translates into slower rates of brain aging. Cross-sectionally, education was modestly associated with regional cortical volume. However, despite marked mean atrophy in the cortex and hippocampus, education did not influence rates of change. The results were replicated across two independent samples. Our findings challenge the view that higher education slows brain aging.",

author = "Lars Nyberg and Fredrik Magnussen and Anders Lundquist and William Baar{\'e} and David Bartr{\'e}s-Faz and Lars Bertram and Boraxbekk, \{C. J.\} and Brandmaier, \{Andreas M.\} and Drevon, \{Christian A.\} and Klaus Ebmeier and Paolo Ghisletta and Henson, \{Richard N.\} and Carme Junqu{\'e} and Rogier Kievit and Maike Kleemeyer and Ethan Knights and Simone K{\"u}hn and Ulman Lindenberger and Penninx, \{Brenda W.J.H.\} and Sara Pudas and {\O}ystein S{\o}rensen and L{\'i}dia Vaqu{\'e}-Alc{\'a}zar and Walhovd, \{Kristine B.\} and Fjell, \{Anders M.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition—European Research Council under Grant Agreements 283634 and 725025 (to A.M.F.) and 313440 (to K.B.W.), as well as the Norwegian Research Council (to A.M.F. and K.B.W.); University of Barcelona—partial support by a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (European Regional Development Fund; RTI2018-095181-B-C21) to D.B.-F., who was also supported by an Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies Academia 2019 grant award; by the Walnuts and Healthy Aging study (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Grant NCT01634841) funded by the California Walnut Commission, Sacramento, CA; BASE-II—supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under Grants 16SV5537/ 16SV5837/16SV5538/16SV5536K/01UW0808/01UW0706/01GL1716A/01GL1716B. S.K. has received support from the European Research Council under Grant Agreement 677804; Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience—initial funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, followed by support from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. Part of the research was conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application 32048. Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was supported by European Union–Horizon 2020 Grant: “Healthy Minds 0–100 Years: Optimising the Use of European Brain Imaging Cohorts ({\textquoteleft}Lifebrain{\textquoteright})” (Grant/Award 732592); Betula—a Scholar grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (to L.N.); Center for Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2101644118",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

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Nyberg, L, Magnussen, F, Lundquist, A, Baaré, W, Bartrés-Faz, D, Bertram, L, Boraxbekk, CJ, Brandmaier, AM, Drevon, CA, Ebmeier, K, Ghisletta, P, Henson, RN, Junqué, C, Kievit, R, Kleemeyer, M, Knights, E, Kühn, S, Lindenberger, U, Penninx, BWJH, Pudas, S, Sørensen, Ø, Vaqué-Alcázar, L, Walhovd, KB & Fjell, AM 2021, 'Educational attainment does not influence brain aging', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 118, no. 18, 2101644118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101644118

TY - JOUR

T1 - Educational attainment does not influence brain aging

AU - Nyberg, Lars

AU - Magnussen, Fredrik

AU - Lundquist, Anders

AU - Baaré, William

AU - Bartrés-Faz, David

AU - Bertram, Lars

AU - Boraxbekk, C. J.

AU - Brandmaier, Andreas M.

AU - Drevon, Christian A.

AU - Ebmeier, Klaus

AU - Ghisletta, Paolo

AU - Henson, Richard N.

AU - Junqué, Carme

AU - Kievit, Rogier

AU - Kleemeyer, Maike

AU - Knights, Ethan

AU - Kühn, Simone

AU - Lindenberger, Ulman

AU - Penninx, Brenda W.J.H.

AU - Pudas, Sara

AU - Sørensen, Øystein

AU - Vaqué-Alcázar, Lídia

AU - Walhovd, Kristine B.

AU - Fjell, Anders M.

N1 - Funding Information: Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition—European Research Council under Grant Agreements 283634 and 725025 (to A.M.F.) and 313440 (to K.B.W.), as well as the Norwegian Research Council (to A.M.F. and K.B.W.); University of Barcelona—partial support by a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (European Regional Development Fund; RTI2018-095181-B-C21) to D.B.-F., who was also supported by an Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies Academia 2019 grant award; by the Walnuts and Healthy Aging study (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Grant NCT01634841) funded by the California Walnut Commission, Sacramento, CA; BASE-II—supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under Grants 16SV5537/ 16SV5837/16SV5538/16SV5536K/01UW0808/01UW0706/01GL1716A/01GL1716B. S.K. has received support from the European Research Council under Grant Agreement 677804; Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience—initial funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, followed by support from the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. Part of the research was conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application 32048. Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This work was supported by European Union–Horizon 2020 Grant: “Healthy Minds 0–100 Years: Optimising the Use of European Brain Imaging Cohorts (‘Lifebrain’)” (Grant/Award 732592); Betula—a Scholar grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (to L.N.); Center for Publisher Copyright: © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5/4

Y1 - 2021/5/4

N2 - Education has been related to various advantageous lifetime outcomes. Here, using longitudinal structural MRI data (4,422 observations), we tested the influential hypothesis that higher education translates into slower rates of brain aging. Cross-sectionally, education was modestly associated with regional cortical volume. However, despite marked mean atrophy in the cortex and hippocampus, education did not influence rates of change. The results were replicated across two independent samples. Our findings challenge the view that higher education slows brain aging.

AB - Education has been related to various advantageous lifetime outcomes. Here, using longitudinal structural MRI data (4,422 observations), we tested the influential hypothesis that higher education translates into slower rates of brain aging. Cross-sectionally, education was modestly associated with regional cortical volume. However, despite marked mean atrophy in the cortex and hippocampus, education did not influence rates of change. The results were replicated across two independent samples. Our findings challenge the view that higher education slows brain aging.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85105651544

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2101644118

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2101644118

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33903255

AN - SCOPUS:85105651544

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 118

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 18

M1 - 2101644118

ER -

Educational attainment does not influence brain aging

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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