A study of over 2,200 adults who attended U.S. high schools in the early 1960s has established a link between the quality of education received and cognitive function 60 years later.
While previous research has demonstrated a correlation between years of schooling and later life cognition, this is one of the first studies to explore the impact of the quality of education.
Study Details and Findings
Led by Jennifer Manly, Ph.D., professor of neuropsychology at Columbia University, and postdoctoral research scientist Dominika Šeblová, Ph.D., the study drew upon data from the Project Talent, a 1960 survey of high school students in the U.S., and the follow-up data collected in the Project Talent Aging Study.
The researchers analyzed relationships between six indicators of school quality and various measures of cognitive performance approximately six decades after the participants had left high school.
They found that those who had attended schools with a higher proportion of teachers holding graduate degrees exhibited better late-life cognition, especially language fluency.
Impact of Teacher Training
The presence of teachers with advanced training was found to be the most consistent predictor of better cognitive function later in life.
Attending a school with many such teachers was roughly equivalent to the difference in cognition between a 70-year-old and someone one to three years older.
Other indicators of school quality had some correlation with certain aspects of cognitive performance, but not all.
The researchers suggest that attending schools with highly trained teachers may have long-lasting cognitive benefits.
The stimulating intellectual environment provided by these teachers may provide additional cognitive advantages.
Furthermore, attending higher-quality schools could influence life trajectory, leading to further education and higher income, both of which are linked to better cognition in later life.
Racial Disparities
Although the link between school quality and late-life cognition was similar for both white and Black students, Black participants were more likely to have attended lower-quality schools.
The researchers point out that racial equity in school quality has never been achieved in the U.S., and school racial segregation has intensified in recent decades.
These disparities in school quality could contribute to persistent inequalities in late-life cognitive outcomes.
Conclusion: Importance of Investment in Education
“Our study establishes a link between high-quality education and better late-life cognition and suggests that increased investment in schools, especially those that serve Black children, could be a powerful strategy to improve cognitive health among older adults in the United States,” says Dr. Manly.
The study findings were published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring in a paper titled “High school quality is associated with cognition 58 years later.”
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The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.
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