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More educated people lose memory faster
Islamabad, Oct 29: People with more years of education lose their memory faster in the years before a diagnosis of dementia, compared to their
counterparts with lesser education, a new study has revealed.
The
study found for each additional year of formal education, the rapid accelerated
memory decline associated with oncoming dementia was delayed by approximately
two and one half months, Forbes reported.
However, once that accelerated
decline commenced, the people with more education saw their rate of
cognitive decline accelerate 4 percent faster for each additional year of
education.
The latter portion of this finding corroborates previous
research, which had shown that people with more education had more rapid memory
loss after diagnosis of dementia. Study showed that a person with 16
years of formal education would experience a rate of memory decline that is 50%
faster than someone with just 4 years education.
This rapid decline may
be explained by how people with more education have a greater cognitive reserve,
or the brain's ability to maintain function in spite of damage.
So, while
they're often diagnosed with dementia at a later date - which we believe
may be because of their ability to hide the symptoms - there's
still damage to their brain. The News
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