JAMA Neurol: Higher cognitive abilities in adolescence may reduce the risk of AD pathological changes in later life

Higher cognitive abilities (ELCE) in children'sand adolescence were associated with decreased cognitive ability and reduced risk of dementia in later life, but the mechanisms were not fully articulatedRecently, researchers assessed the relationship between ELCE and pathological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other common dementiasThe Rush Memory and Aging Study was a community cohort study based on clinical pathology, with an average annual cognitive and clinical assessment of 7.0 years before the participants diedFrom 1 January 1997 to 30 June 2019, a total of 2,044 participants signed up, of whom 1,018 died and the autopsy data came from 813 participantsIn the baseline study, the participants were examined for four ELCE indicators (socio-economic status in adolescence, acquisition of cognitive resources at age 12, frequency of participation in cognitive stimulation activities, and early foreign language teaching) and a composite measurement of ELCE was obtainedThe main endpoint of the study was the AD pathology score obtained by comprehensive diffuse plaque, neuroitis plaque and neuronal fiber entanglementthe average age at which 813 participants died was 90.1 years, with 562 (69%) femaleIn the linear regression model of age, sex, and education of death, the higher the ELCE level, the lower the overall AD pathology score (estimated at -0.057; standard error of 0.022; P -0.01), but ELCE was not related to any other pathological changes associated with dementiaIn addition, the higher the level of ELCE, the less cognitive decline in later life (average: -0.13 units/year)The correlation between ELCE and cognitive decline in old age was indirectly affected by AD pathological changes, with 80% directly affecting the relationshipstudy found that cognitive ability in children and adolescence was associated with cognitive health in later life, with less pathological changes in AD in later life in adolescents