Summary: A recent study examined whether prolonged learning causes long-term changes in brain structure, particularly in terms of preventing brain aging. No discernible impact on brain structure was found after analysing data from a special biological experiment involving close to 30 000 participants.
Although education is associated with better mental abilities and health, it does not seem to have any long-term effects on the brain’s natural structure. Researchers believe that any original structural effect may be unimportant or too small to be detected by MRI technology. These findings emphasize the need for prudence when relying solely on relationships to link learning to brain structure.
Important Information:
- Although training has a positive impact on cognitive and physical health, mental structure does not have a long-term impact.
- The study compared brain scans from people who had and did n’t have an additional year of school using a natural experiment.
- The effect of training on brain structure may be temporary or minuscule, evading MRI recognition.
Origin: Radboud University
It is well-known that training has many good effects. People who spend more time in school are typically healthier, smarter, and have better employment and higher wages than those with less schooling.
However, it was not known whether continuous training really prevented brain aging and long-term changes in brain structure.
It is challenging to examine this, because alongside knowledge, several other factors affect brain structure, such as the circumstances under which one grows up, DNA characteristics, and environmental waste.
However, Rogier Kievit and Nicholas Judd from Radboudumc and the Donders Institute, both from Lifespan Cognitive Dynamics, had a unique opportunity to examine the effects of an additional year of learning quite accurately.
Aging
The number of compulsory school years in the United Kingdom was increased from fifteen to sixteen in 1972, but all other factors remained constant. This resulted in an intriguing “natural experiment,” an event that is not under the control of researchers and divides people into confined and unsightly groups.
Data from approximately 30, 000 people who attended school around that time, including MRI scans taken much later ( 46 years after ), is available. This database contains the largest variety of brain imaging data in the world.
The researchers examined the structure of the various brain regions using MRI scans, but they found no significant differences between those who stayed in school longer and those who did n’t.
‘ This astonished us’, says Judd.
We are aware that knowledge is valuable, and we anticipated that it would protect against brain aging. Aging shows up in all of our MRI measures, for example we see a decrease in overall level, surface area, cerebral thickness, and worse water diffusion in the brain. But, the more time of training appears to have no effect these.’
Mental construction
It’s possible that the brain looked different immediately after the extra year of education, but that was n’t measured.
” Possibly, education temporarily increases brain length, but eventually returns to normal.” After all, it has to meet in your head’, explains Kievit.
‘ It could be like activities: if you train difficult for a month at sixteen, you’ll notice a positive impact on your muscles, but fifty years later, that result is gone.’
Additionally, it’s possible that extracurricular education only leads to brain micro changes that are n’t seen by an MRI.
Both in this research and in other, smaller reports, links have been found between more knowledge and mental benefits. For instance, people who receive more training have stronger mental abilities, better wellness, and a higher likelihood of work. However, this is not noticeable in mental composition via MRI.
Our study suggests that one should be careful about assigning causation when only a relationship is observed, according to Kievit. Although there are also connections between knowledge and the brain, there is no proof of this in mind construction.
About this information on cognitive and mental maturity.
Author: Pauline Dekhuijzen
Source: Radboud University
Contact: Pauline Dekhuijzen – Radboud University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Start exposure.
Rogier Kievit and al. report,” No effect of more schooling on long-term brain structure – a registered natural experiment in thousands of individuals.” covering
Abstract
No impact of more education on long-term brain structure – a registered natural experiment conducted on thousands of people.
Education is related to a wide variety of beneficial health, social, and political benefits. But, whether learning causes long-term fundamental changes in the brain remains questionable.
The persistent problem is that people choose to continue learning, which introduces a wide range of environmental and genetic confounders. Fortunately, natural experiments allow us to isolate the causal impact of increased education from individual ( and societal ) characteristics.
Here, we exploit a policy change in the UK ( the 1972 ROSLA act ) that increased the amount of mandatory schooling from 15 to 16 years of age to study the impact of education on long-term structural brain outcomes in a large ( n∼30.000, UK Biobank ) sample.
No architectural neuroscience outcomes are affected by an additional year of education, according to the regression discontinuity method, a direct inference method.
This void result is solid across modes, regions, and analysis strategies. An extra year of training is a large mental treatment, but we find no evidence for sustained experience-dependent flexibility.
Our findings challenge well-known theories of cognitive or “brain reserve,” which view education as a significant protective factor to lessen adverse aging effects.
Our preregistered findings are one of the first instances of regression discontinuity on neural data, allowing for causal inference in population-based neuroimaging.
