A study of Finnish and British scientists, based on 872 brain donors from three large ageing studies, suggests that people who educate for longer, have decreased dementia risk and greater brain weight. The study also showed that for each year spent in education, there is an 11% decreased risk of developing dementia. The study also suggests that more education did not protect individuals from developing neurodegenerative and vascular neuropathology by the time they died but it did appear to mitigate the impact of pathology on the clinical expression of dementia before death. The authors are speculating that people who study longer have large brains which adapt better to changes associated with dementia or that educated people find ways of managing or hiding their symptoms.

If you have an above average risk of Alzheimer’s disease which is the main cause of dementia, we suggest you to study longer.