Education Does Not Affect Cognitive Decline in Aging: A Bayesian Assessment of the Association Between Education and Change in Cognitive Performance

Frontiers in Psychology

Rasmus Berggren¹ 

关键词: cognitive aging;    Bayesian inference;    cognitive reserve;    longitudinal study;    cohort study;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01138

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Education is positively associated with level of cognitive function but the association between education and rate of cognitive decline remains unresolved, partly for methodological reasons. In this article, we address this issue using linear mixed models and Bayesian hypothesis testing, using data from the Betula cohort-sequential longitudinal study. Our results support the null hypothesis that education does not alter the rate of cognitive decline for visuospatial ability, semantic knowledge, and episodic memory. We propose that education is only a relevant variable for understanding cognitive performance in older age because of the association between performance and education that is formed in early development.

【 授权许可】

CC BY