Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42241456›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

Modelling cognitive outcomes in the UK Biobank: Education, noradrenaline and frontoparietal networks.

Laura Bravo-Merodio, Jackie A Olley-Williams, Dominic Russ, Georgios Gkoutos, Meadhbh B Brosnan, Mark A Bellgrove, Magdalena Chechlacz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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.

Laura Bravo-MerodioInstitute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Centre for Health Data Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Jackie A Olley-WilliamsInstitute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Centre for Health Data Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0357-5454
Dominic RussInstitute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Centre for Health Data Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Georgios GkoutosInstitute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, Centre for Health Data Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Meadhbh B BrosnanTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Mark A BellgroveTurner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Magdalena ChechlaczCentre for Human Brain Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1811-3946

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Education is often used as a surrogate measure of so called cognitive reserve (CR) benefiting cognitive functioning in later years. In line with Robertson's theory we tested here a hypothesis that education acting on the noradrenergic system strengthen the right fronto-parietal networks to facilitate CR and maintain cognition throughout the lifetime. We used machine learning and mediation analysis to model interactions between neurobiological features (genetic variants in noradrenergic signalling, structural and functional fronto-parietal connectivity) and education (proxy of CR) on cognitive outcomes (measured here by general cognitive ability score calculated based on performance across a battery of cognitive tests) in the UK Biobank cohort. We show that: (1) interactions between education and neurobiological variables better explain cognitive outcomes than either factor alone; (2) among the neurobiological features selected using variable importance testing, measures of right fronto-parietal connectivity are the strongest mediators of the association between education and cognitive outcomes. Our findings offer novel insights into neurobiological basis of CR by pointing to between-networks connectivity, representing connections linking the default mode network with the right fronto-parietal network as the key facilitator of CR.

Indexed as

CognitionCognitive ReserveFrontal LobeNerve NetNorepinephrineParietal LobeAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedUK BiobankUnited KingdomNorepinephrine

Identifiers

PMID42241456
PMCPMC13235897

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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.