Low education

8 papers15 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

On aging: the drug’s trials ARN judged to be about aging, of every trial that tests it for any use.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

6 independent labs in 6 countries

Funders: National Institute on Aging and 1 more

Human trial1
Humans6
In silico1

Outcomes

Activities of daily living

no changein humans1

1 study

Low education has no effect on activities of daily living in humans (p = 0.35).
“similar levels of impairments on activities of daily living ( p = 0.35”
Humanshealthy individuals matched on age and sex
Educational Disparities and Lower Cognitive Performance on MMSE and RUDAS Despite Neuroanatomical and Functional Preservation in Aging: Insights from Peru
AAIC 2025 abstract25 Dec 2025

Brain structure

no changein humans1

1 study

Low education has no effect on brain structure in humans (p >0.28).
“despite having similar metrics on MRI ( p >0.28)”
Humanshealthy individuals matched on age and sex
Educational Disparities and Lower Cognitive Performance on MMSE and RUDAS Despite Neuroanatomical and Functional Preservation in Aging: Insights from Peru
AAIC 2025 abstract25 Dec 2025

Cognitive function

downin humans1

1 study

Low education decreases cognitive function in humans (p <0.001).
“Low education individuals scored much lower on MMSE, compared to high education individuals ( p <0.001)”
Humanshealthy individuals matched on age and sex
Educational Disparities and Lower Cognitive Performance on MMSE and RUDAS Despite Neuroanatomical and Functional Preservation in Aging: Insights from Peru
AAIC 2025 abstract25 Dec 2025

Abstraction score

downin humans1

1 study

Low education decreases abstraction score in humans (B=-0.85, p<0.05).
“Vietnamese participants with ≤8 years of education had lower abstraction domain scores (B=‐0.85;p<0.05).”
Humansin Vietnamese participants
Exploring Education and Cognition in Minority Communities in Southern California: Insights from the SERVE OC Randomized Trial
AAIC 2025 abstract23 Dec 2025

Visuospatial and executive function

downin humans1

1 study

Low education decreases visuospatial and executive function in humans (B=-0.61, p<0.01).
“and for Latinos, lower scores in visuospatial/executive function (B=‐0.61;p<0.01)”
Humansin Latino participants
Exploring Education and Cognition in Minority Communities in Southern California: Insights from the SERVE OC Randomized Trial
AAIC 2025 abstract23 Dec 2025

Montreal Cognitive Assessment score

downin humans1

1 study

Low education decreases montreal Cognitive Assessment score in humans (aBeta=-1.71, p <0.01).
“Having ≤8 years of education was significantly associated with lower MoCA total scores (cBeta=‐2.79, p <0.01; aBeta=‐1.71, p <0.01)”
Humansadjusted for demographic and health factorsn = 292
Exploring Education and Cognition in Minority Communities in Southern California: Insights from the SERVE OC Randomized Trial
AAIC 2025 abstract23 Dec 2025

Associations

Hearing loss

upin humans1

1 study

Low education is associated with hearing loss in humans (Population attributable fraction about 2.7%–5.5%).
“Abnormal BMI (about 3.0%-6.5% of the PAF) and low education (about 2.7%-5.5% of the PAF) were the leading attributable risk factors.”
Humansn = 6,291
Priorities for hearing loss prevention based on population attributable fraction estimates: a cross-sectional analysis within the China national health survey 2023
BMC public health9 Oct 2026