Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40465699›Full record

ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2025

A lifespan perspective on cognitive reserve and risk for dementia.

William S Kremen, Malin Ericsson, Margaret Gatz, Ida K Karlsson, Marianne Nygaard, Nancy L Pedersen, Matthew S Panizzon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Quantifying the Uncertainty and Risk Contributions of Activities of Daily Living Features in Dementia Prediction.Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Rethinking Alzheimer's disease susceptibility and heterogeneity. Comment on Miller et al.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Early cognitive ability and dementia risk: Patterns beyond education and mortality.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  11. Early cognitive ability and dementia risk: Response to Chen and colleagues.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  12. A lifespan perspective on cognitive reserve and risk for dementia.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

William S KremenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California, USA.
Malin EricssonDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Margaret GatzCenter for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Ida K KarlssonDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Marianne NygaardDepartment of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, The Danish Twin Registry, Odense M, Denmark.
Nancy L PedersenDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Matthew S PanizzonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, California, USA.

Funding

The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging (VETSA 4)R01AG050595 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ELMAN, JEREMY A, FRANZ, CAROL ELAINE · 2015 to 2024
$28.0M
The VETSA Longitudinal MRI Twin Study of Aging (VETSA MRI 4)R01AG076838 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ANDERS M DALE, Jeremy A Elman · 2022 to 2026
$8.7M
Clarifying risk and protective factors for dementia with the Interplay of Genes and Environment in Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortiumR01AG060470 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GATZ, MARGARET, PEDERSEN, NANCY L · 2018 to 2022
$3.6M
Differences in the association of education with ADRD across countries, historical eras, and men and women.R01AG081248 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI DEBORAH G FINKEL, Brian K. Finch · 2024 to 2026
$3.6M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG050595NIA NIH HHS R01 AG076838NIA NIH HHS R01 AG081248NIH HHS R01AG050595NIH HHS R01AG060470NIH HHS R01AG076838NIH HHS R01AG081248Vetenskapsrådet 2021-00180
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWe addressed whether higher education plays a causal role in reducing dementia risk by comparing two indices of cognitive reserve: education and young adult general cognitive ability (GCA).

methodsWe conducted a 52-year survival analysis to examine associations of GCA and education with dementia in 16,619 male conscripts identified in Swedish national health registries born between 1936 and 1958 and with available data for models including midlife occupational complexity, physical activity, and socioeconomic status (SES).

resultsHigher GCA was associated with lower dementia risk (hazard ratio = 0.865, 95% confidence interval = 0.756 to 0.990). After accounting for GCA, no other measure contributed significantly to dementia risk. DISCUSSION: Putative reserve effects of education or occupational complexity likely reflect largely downstream effects of prior GCA. From a lifespan perspective on reducing dementia risk, the results may suggest favoring interventions aimed at enhancing cognitive development during childhood when there is substantial brain development as opposed to later-life cognitive training. HIGHLIGHTS: Education and GCA serve as indices of cognitive reserve. Education is a modifiable risk factor that is associated with dementia risk. The effect of higher education on reduced dementia risk is not directly causal. Education is largely a downstream effect of prior level of GCA. Increasing GCA during childhood may be more effective than later cognitive training.

Indexed as

Cognitive ReserveDementiaAdultEducational StatusHumansMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesRisk FactorsSurvival AnalysisSwedenYoung AdultAlzheimer's diseaseeducationoccupational complexityreverse causationrisk predictionYoung adult general cognitive ability

Identifiers

PMID40465699
PMCPMC12136087

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.