Despite assumptions about education's positive influence on brain structure, new findings suggest that even an additional year of schooling doesn't leave a lasting neural footprint. Study: No effect of additional education on long-term brain structure – a preregistered natural experiment in thousands of individuals . Image Credit: Shutterstock AI / Shutterstock.
com In a recent study published in eLife , researchers report that an additional year of compulsory education does not lead to any lasting structural changes in the brain across various neuroimaging measures. These observations challenge existing theories that have linked education duration to enhanced brain resilience. How does education affect brain structure? Education is recognized as a fundamental right that provides broad societal, economic, and cognitive benefits.
Furthermore, completing higher education has been associated with improved health, cognition, and brain structure. Lifespan theories suggest that education may cause long-term brain structural changes. Studies show that educated individuals have thicker cortices in later life that may provide a "brain reserve" against aging effects.
However, causality is unclear, as factors like genetics, income, and environment could confound prior research. About the study Bayes factors for surface area per region using a local randomization analysis with a 5-month window around the onset of ROSLA (September 1st, 1957). Illustrating widespread evidence against the .