Financial Hardship Linked to Brain Shrinkage and Cognitive Decline, Study Finds

A 70-year study of British adults found that persistent financial hardship was associated with lower scores on memory and processing speed tests by age 53, and later brain scans showed signs of tissue shrinkage, according to findings published in the journal Innovation in Aging. The research tracked nearly 3,000 participants from birth through their 70s, using income data and cognitive tests to examine long-term associations. Researchers analyzed data from the 1946 British birth cohort, a project tracking thousands of people born in a single week in March 1946. Financial hardship was defined as household income in the bottom fifth or difficulty meeting basic needs at ages 26, 36, 43, and 53, the report stated. Study...

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