How educational attainment may impact memory and dementia risk later in life

Newark, N.J. – Historical policies shaping educational attainment have enduring benefits for later life memory and risk of dementia, according to a study led by a Rutgers Health researcher.

The study, published in Epidemiology, compared the differences in years of education based on variations in state schooling mandates with cognitive performance outcomes in residents decades later.

“Policies to increase the quantity or quality of schooling now are likely to have long-term benefits on cognitive outcomes,” said Min Hee Kim, a faculty member in the Center for Health Services Research at the Rut...