Anatomic and neuropsychological findings in low-educated cognitively intact elderly from a Brazilian cohort

Abstract

In elderly individuals, low educational level may represent a risk factor for the development of dementia and a proxy of cognitive reserve. Objective: This study examined the cognitive and neuroanatomic correlates of high versus low educational levels in cognitively healthy community-dwelling older adults in Brazil. Methods: Fifty-three older adults (mean age: 68±5.3 years) were divided into a “low education” group [LE; 1-4 years of education (N=33)] and “high education” group [HE; >11 years of education (N=20)]. Both groups completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and underwent in vivo structural MRI close to the time of testing. Results: Higher educational level increased the chance of having better scores on neuropsychological tests, including verbal and visual delayed recall of information, verbal learning, category fluency, global cognition, and vocabulary. Better scores on these tests were observed in the HE group relative to the LE group. Despite this, there were no group differences between MRI measures. Conclusion: Older adults with higher educational levels showed better scores on neuropsychological measures of cognition, highlighting the need for education-adjusted norms in developing countries. Given the absence of differences in structural anatomy between the groups, these findings appear to be best explained by theories of cognitive reserve.

Association between psychosocial and functional factors and language and verbal fluency performance in older adults

“…In this study, greater educational attainment was associated with good performance in both language and verbal fluency. These results agree with the literature and reinforce the importance of attending school for lifelong cognition [3][4][5][6]14,22,23 .…”

“…Instrumental activities of daily living depend on language; hence, if the performance of these activities is impaired, language may also suffer changes, and vice-versa. Such data is reinforced in another national study that compared functioning and language in 60 older adults -participants and nonparticipants of multidisciplinary intervention groups in primary health care -and found a correspondence between the language and functioning variables 23 .…”

Associação entre fatores psicossociais e funcionais e desempenho de idosos em linguagem e fluência verbal

“…O presente artigo teve como objetivo identificar os fatores psicossociais e funcionais associados ao desempenho de idosos em linguagem e fluência verbal. Neste estudo, maior escolaridade mostrou-se associada ao bom desempenho de linguagem e de fluência verbal, resultados condizentes com a literatura e que reforçam a importância da escolaridade para a cognição ao longo da vida [3][4][5][6]14,22,23 .…”

“…As atividades instrumentais de vida diária dependem da linguagem e se o desempenho dessas atividades estiver prejudicado, a linguagem também poderá sofrer alterações e vice-versa. Esse dado é reforçado em outro estudo nacional que comparou a funcionalidade e a linguagem de 60 idosos participantes e não-participantes de grupos com intervenção multidisciplinar na atenção primária à saúdee observou correspondência entre as variáveis linguagem e funcionalidade 23 .…”