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The association between level of educational attainment and cognitive performance is well studied. People with higher education perform better across a broad range of cognitive tasks. However, there is uncertainty as to whether education moderates the trajectory of age-related cognitive decline. This review paper addresses the potential link between education and age-related cognitive decline by evaluating relevant research published since 2000. Studies reporting data on education and its association with the rate of cognitive decline across various cognitive domains were reviewed. A total of 10 studies were identified with a mean follow-up period of 7.6 years; each contained a population-based, non-demented sample. In the majority of studies, results showed that education did not moderate age-associated cognitive decline. The few studies that did find an association between education and decline in specific cognitive functions should be interpreted with caution because of methodological issues. The literature reveals little consistent evidence that normal age-related cognitive decline is moderated by education attainment. This supports a passive theory of cognitive reserve: people with a higher level of education will continue to perform at a higher level of cognitive functioning than their lower educated peers, which may delay the onset of impairment in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have been criticised for using the same battery of neuropsychological tests during classification and longitudinal followup.The key concern is that there is a potential circularitywhen the same tests are used to identifyMCI and then subsequentlymonitor change in function over time.The aim of the present studywas to examine the evidence of this potential circularity problem. The present study assessed the memory function of 72 MCI participants and 50 healthy controls using an alternate battery of visual and verbal episodic memory tests 9 months following initial comprehensive screening assessment andMCI classification. Individuals who were classified as multiple-domain amnesticMCI (a-MCI+) at screening show a significantly reduced performance in visual and verbal memory function at followup using a completely different battery of valid and reliable tests. Consistent with their initial classification, those identified as nonamnesticMCI (na-MCI) or control at screening demonstrated the highest performance across the memory tasks. The results of the present study indicate that persistent memory deficits remain evident in amnesticMCI subgroups using alternate memory tests, suggesting that the concerns regarding potential circularity of logicmay be overstated inMCI research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]