Persistent financial difficulties can accelerate age-related cognitive decline, according to new research led by University College London (UCL).
Published in Innovation in agingThe study analyzed data from 2,759 people in the United Kingdom who completed questionnaires over much of their lives through the MRC’s National Health and Development Survey (also known as the 1946 British Cohort Study).
The researchers found that people who faced ongoing financial difficulties or persistently low income during early and middle adulthood tended to perform worse on cognitive tests at age 53.
Among a subgroup who later underwent brain scans, persistent low income was also associated with worse brain health (including greater brain shrinkage) in old age (ages 69 to 71).
These associations remained after the researchers took into account other factors that could have influenced the results, including childhood cognitive ability, educational level, and childhood disadvantages.
Decades of financial stress may be top of mind
Corresponding author Dr Jacques Wels (UCL Health and Lifelong Aging Unit) said: “Most studies on cognitive aging look at financial hardship at a single point in time. Our study, using several decades of data, allows us to see that it is the accumulation of hardship over many years that is linked to poorer cognitive health outcomes, rather than occasional episodes of adversity.”
Lead author Professor Praveetha Patalay (Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging and Center for Longitudinal Studies, UCL) said: “Our findings suggest that supporting people facing financial difficulties and reducing chronic poverty could also help prevent cognitive decline and cases of dementia in the future.”
The relationship between financial adversity and worse future brain health appeared especially strong among men, people who had experienced disadvantage in childhood, and those who carried APOE-ε4, a genetic variant associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Men who experienced persistent financial adversity also performed worse on cognitive tests at age 53 than their female counterparts.
The researchers suggested several possible explanations for this difference. Disadvantaged men may have been more likely than disadvantaged women to engage in unhealthy behaviors (such as smoking and alcohol abuse). Men of this generation may also have experienced financial strain differently because they were more likely to have been the primary breadwinner in this cohort born in 1946.
How monetary stress could affect the brain
Several biological and psychological pathways could help explain the connection between financial difficulties and cognitive aging.
One possibility is inflammation. Chronic stress can promote inflammation, which is known to contribute to faster brain aging.
Persistent worry about finances could also increase cognitive load. Constantly thinking about money and bills can consume mental resources, leaving less capacity available for other cognitive tasks.
The researchers also observed an unusual pattern in memory performance. Although people who experienced financial hardship or low income generally performed worse on cognitive tests at age 53, their scores on a memory test declined more slowly between ages 53 and 69.
The researchers said this was likely because these participants had already experienced substantial cognitive losses at age 53 compared to people who had not faced persistent financial stress, leaving less room for further decline in subsequent years.
Tracking income and hardship throughout adulthood
Participants reported their household income at three stages of adulthood, at ages 26, 43, and 53. The researchers classified people as persistently low-income if they were in the bottom 20% of the group at least twice. About 16% (about one in six) of participants met this definition.
Financial difficulties were measured separately through questions about daily financial pressure, including whether participants had difficulty managing their income or had difficulty paying bills.
People were classified as having experienced persistent difficulties if their questionnaire scores crossed a designated threshold at least twice between the ages of 36 and 53. Approximately 12% (about one in eight) of participants fell into this category.
Measuring cognitive and brain health
Cognitive assessments measured verbal memory and processing speed.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) gave researchers a way to evaluate several indicators of brain health, including brain atrophy (shrinkage) and ventricular expansion. Ventricular expansion refers to the enlargement of fluid-filled cavities within the brain and is considered a sign of poorer brain health.
The 1946 British Cohort Study, organized by UCL, is the longest continuously running birth cohort study in the world. The participants (who were registered at birth) celebrated their 80thth birthday earlier this year.