Enlarge image
"At some point the brains of all adults start to shrink" (symbol picture)
Photo:
Stephan Scheuer / picture alliance / dpa
Anyone who continues to study after leaving school, for example studying and maybe even getting a doctorate, trains their brain and thus contributes to defying old age and stopping the normal process of shrinking - right?
Researchers from eight European countries have investigated this widespread assumption for years - and have now come to the conclusion that it is not true.
"Our results suggest that higher education does not slow down brain aging," says Lars Nyberg of Umeå University in Sweden. He is the main author of the “Lifebrain” study and a member of the research consortium, which also includes scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. The results were first published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers start with the prevailing opinion that a higher level of education at least slows down or even stops the shrinkage of the brain in adulthood.
For their study, they then measured the brain volume of more than 2000 study participants.
In order to record the changes, the brains were examined up to three times in a row over a period of up to eleven years.
The ages of the participants ranged from 29 to 91 years.
more on the subject
OECD survey on school closings: »Classroom teaching in the first years of school cannot be replaced« By Miriam Olbrisch
New findings in brain research: Why do humans dream? By Johann Grolle
MIT researcher on the limits of artificial superintelligence: "Even small children are far superior to robots" An interview by Philip Bethge
The research group studied brain aging by measuring the volume of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The shrinking of these two areas of the brain is part of normal aging. The experts wanted to find out how adult brains change over the course of life and whether education plays a role in this. By education, in this case, we mean the number of years people have spent in school and higher education.
The results showed a positive relationship between the volume of some areas of the brain and the level of education, writes the Max Planck Institute in a press release.
However, the brain volume in adults with higher educational qualifications decreased just as much with age as in those with lower educational qualifications.
"Our results do not mean that education is unimportant," emphasizes Ulman Lindenberger, director of the research area "Developmental Psychology" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
»Education has many advantages in life.
But at some point the brains of all adults start to shrink, and the rate at which it shrinks is not affected by how many years you've been in school. "
focus