Accelerated brain aging linked to long-term financial hardship in new study

Older adults who faced persistent financial hardship showed poor cognitive function and signs of brain aging sooner later in life, according to a new study.

Researchers at University College London looked at 2,759 UK participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development born in 1946, as stated in a press release.

Adults who reported experiencing persistent financial hardship or low income performed worse on cognitive tests that assess verbal memory and processing speed.

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Those with persistently low income also showed poorer brain health based on MRI scans, which measured signs of aging such as brain shrinkage and enlarged ventricles.

“[While] we know well that cognitive decline is associated with both genetic risks and adverse childhood experiences, we knew very little about what happens during the life course … in particular, the experience of financial stress that persists throughout life,” study author Dr Jacques Wels from the Life and Aging Unit at UCL told Fox News Digital.

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“The study clearly shows … that poverty concentration is associated with cognitive decline. We used different measures of lifestyle financial problems and different measures of cognitive decline and they all show similar results, making the results robust.”

Participants who reported experiencing ongoing financial difficulties or low income performed worse on cognitive tests that assessed verbal memory and processing speed. (Stock)

The associations were strongest among men, people who had disadvantaged children and carriers of the APOE-ε4 genetic variant linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Research shows that [while] “mental retardation is both a matter of genetic risk and individual behavior, and is also affected by experiences in our lives that we cannot always control,” Wels added.

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Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that chronic financial hardship over decades, rather than short periods of hardship, is associated with accelerated cognitive aging.

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This may be the result of chronic stress that leads to swelling or increased cognitive load from ongoing financial worries, the authors proposed.

There were some limitations of the study, including that its observational design could not prove that financial stress caused psychological effects.

Those with persistently low income also showed poorer brain health based on MRI scans, which measured signs of aging such as brain shrinkage and enlarged ventricles. (Stock)

“We’re looking at a subset of people born in 1946 – so their life experiences really depend on the context they lived in,” Wells noted. “For example, we found stronger results among males, indicating a ‘breadwinner’ role for men in older groups, something we may not see in later generations.”

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Even after accounting for many other factors that may influence brain health, it is still possible that unmeasured variables may influence the results, the study authors acknowledged.

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Although reducing long-term poverty can help protect brain health, the UCL team said more studies are needed to establish whether improving financial conditions directly reduces the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.