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Associations of later-life education, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and cognitive change in older adults
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 15:47 authored by Ward, DD, Mathew SummersMathew Summers, Valenzuela, MJ, Srikanth, VK, Jeffery SummersJeffery Summers, Anna KingAnna King, Ritchie, K, Andrew RobinsonAndrew Robinson, James VickersJames VickersIn 358 participants of the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project, we quantified the cognitive consequences of engaging in varying loads of university-level education in later life, and investigated whether or not BDNF Val66Met affected outcomes. Assessment of neuropsychological, health, and psychosocial function was undertaken at baseline, 12-month, and 24-month follow-up. Education load was positively associated with change in language processing performance, but this effect did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.064). The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism significantly moderated the extent to which education load was associated with improved language processing (P = 0.026), with education load having a significant positive relationship with cognitive change in BDNF Met carriers but not in BDNF Val homozygotes. In older adults who carry BDNF Met, engaging in university-level education improves language processing performance in a load-dependent manner.
History
Publication title
The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's DiseaseVolume
7Pagination
37-42ISSN
2274-5807Department/School
Wicking Dementia Research Education CentrePublisher
Editions S E R D IPlace of publication
FranceRights statement
Copyright 2020 Serdi and Springer Nature Switzerland AGRepository Status
- Restricted