Adults who experience ongoing financial hardship show signs of accelerated brain aging and poorer cognitive performance later in life, according to a new study from University College London (UCL).
The research, which analyzed data from 2,759 UK participants born in 1946, found that individuals reporting persistent low income or financial difficulties performed worse on cognitive tests measuring verbal memory and processing speed.
Further analysis using MRI scans revealed that those with sustained financial struggles also exhibited poorer brain health, indicated by markers such as brain shrinkage and enlarged ventricles. These findings suggest a correlation between the accumulation of financial adversity over a lifetime and cognitive decline.
"The study clearly demonstrates that the accumulation of poverty is linked to cognitive decline," stated Dr. Jacques Wels, a study author from the UCL Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing. "We used different measures of lifecourse financial adversity and different measures of cognitive decline, and they all show the same results, which makes the results solid."
The study observed stronger associations between financial hardship and cognitive decline among men, individuals with disadvantaged childhoods, and carriers of the APOE-ε4 genetic variant, which is known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers noted that the stronger effects in men might be related to traditional societal roles as primary breadwinners in the era studied.
"The study shows that while cognitive decline is both a matter of genetic risks and individual behaviors, it is also affected by the experiences we live over our lives that we don’t always have control on," Wels added.
Researchers propose that chronic stress resulting from prolonged financial worry could lead to inflammation or increased cognitive load, contributing to faster cognitive aging. The study emphasized that the link appears to be associated with chronic adversity over decades rather than short-term periods of financial difficulty.
However, the study's authors acknowledged limitations, including its observational nature, which prevents definitive conclusions about causation. They also noted that unmeasured variables might have influenced the results, despite efforts to account for other factors affecting brain health.
Future research is needed to determine if improvements in financial circumstances can directly mitigate cognitive decline and reduce the risk of dementia. The UCL team stated that while reducing long-term poverty could potentially benefit brain health, further investigation is required to confirm this effect.