Emily Chan
A recent study has found that your life achievements can act as a sort of shield that guards against memory loss, dementia, and other cognitive issues as you age.
Higher levels of professional success, which were determined by your education, job, and bank account in the study, help build mental resilience, shaping your long-term brain health.
Researchers from the University of College London tracked more than 8,400 adults aged 50 and older for over a decade. They identified a relationship between socioeconomic status and brain health.
People with professional careers, higher education, and more financial resources have a significantly reduced risk of developing cognitive impairment. If early signs of decline do appear, they also have a much higher chance of recovering.
The study followed participants from 2008 to 2019, tracking their cognitive health through cognitive tests, medical diagnoses, and self-reported symptoms.
The researchers wanted to investigate how individuals transitioned between a healthy state of mind, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia.
They used statistical methods called Markov models to predict the odds of these transitions based on factors like education, occupation, and wealth.
The results showed that individuals with post-secondary education were 43 percent less likely to go from a healthy mental state to mild cognitive impairment.
Post-secondary education typically refers to continuing education beyond high school, such as by attending college.
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