Updated: Jun 08, 2020, 01:40 PM IST

Early life education improves memory in women in old age: Study

Early life education, especially for women, holds an essential role in their old age, as it helps them protect against memory loss, a recent study suggests. The results suggest that children, especially girls who attend school for longer, will have better memory abilities in old age. This may have implications for memory loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. The study was conducted by investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center and was published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. The study tested declarative memory in 704 older adults (58-98 years of age). Declarative memory refers to our ability to remember events, facts, and words, such as where you put your keys or the name of that new neighbour. The investigators found that their memory performance became progressively worse with ageing. However, more years of early-life education countered these losses, especially in women.