A group of specialists led by Professor of Neuropsychology Lutz Jahnke decided to find out whether education affects our brain in old age. To get to the bottom of this question, the scientists studied the data of more than 200 elderly people who did not suffer from dementia, did not initially have low intelligence and led an active lifestyle.
Having obtained data from surveys of volunteers, the scientists concluded that academic education protects the brain from age-related degeneration.
As it turned out, over 7 years of observation in older people with higher education, much less typical signs of brain degeneration were recorded. The test results also showed that people with a good education process information more quickly and accurately - and with age, their brains lost less in performance.
Experts have not yet been able to find out how education and cognitive abilities are related in old age. According to preliminary information, the reason lies in neural connections: people accumulate them in the process of learning, increasing the "reserve". And already in old age, thanks to these accumulations, their brain can compensate for the emerging disorders.
The results of the work of the University of Zurich were published in NeuroImage: Clinical.