Lifelong Learning Like Adult Education Courses Help Reduce the Risk of Dementia

There is a popular saying “Use it or lose it!” Does it apply to your brain? A few studies suggest that older people who engage in intellectually stimulating activities can delay the onset of dementia. Adult education courses are one way to do this, but of course there are also many others. One study suggests that tackling intellectual activities throughout life could be protective.

Lifelong Learning Against Alzheimer Disease:

Lifelong learning and its association with a reduced risk for Alzheimer disease was the focus of research published in the journal Neurology (Feb. 11, 2026). Nearly 2,000 octagenarians without dementia began the study and continued participation for about eight years. The researchers questioned these volunteers about their childhood learning experiences as well as current behavior.

People who had participated in intellectually challenging activities such as learning a language, reading or writing were less likely to develop Alzheimer disease, with 21% getting such a diagnosis compared to 34% of those with the fewest learning opportunities. In addition, their Alzheimer disease diagnosis was five years later (average age 94) than that of others with less intellectual enrichment (average age 88). Those who developed mild cognitive impairment did so seven years later than those without lifelong learning. Volunteers with higher lifetime enrichment also showed less cognitive decline before death compared to those with less opportunity to learn.

The lead author noted:

“Our findings are encouraging, suggesting that consistently engaging in a variety of mentally stimulating activities throughout life may make a difference in cognition”

HBCU College Matriculation Boosts Cognition in Black Seniors:

Another new article, completely unrelated, considered whether attendance at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) would have a protective effect for African American seniors (JAMA Network Open, Feb. 11, 2026). The investigators analyzed data from an existing study on stroke because it contained data on college attendance and current cognitive assessments. There were 1,978 Black seniors who had attended college in the study population.

When comparing the cognitive test scores for those who had attended an HBCU to those of people reporting attendance at a predominantly white institution, researchers found their memory, language and global cognition was better. These findings held for everyone who was of college age by 1955 or after, so it spans the time before and after legal racial segregation in education.

The researchers suggest that

“HBCU exposure may help mitigate the later-life adverse health effects related to de jure and de facto racial segregation (1954) and discrimination in education (1964).”

They did not include continued contact with and support among college friends as a possible factor, but we suspect that it might play a role in mitigating stress and encouraging ongoing intellectual engagement.

Do Adult Education Courses Help?

One place to look for intellectual enrichment might be adult education courses. A study of approximately 280,000 volunteers in the UK Biobank suggested that people who participate frequently in adult education courses apparently reduce their risk of dementia (Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, Aug. 22, 2023).

The people in the study signed up with the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010, when they were at least 40 but not older than 69. They completed a number of cognitive tests at the start and during the seven years of follow-up. In addition, when the study began, they filled out a comprehensive questionnaire that asked about their participation in adult education courses. Previous studies (as well as the subsequent one we have just discussed) have shown that people who use their leisure time for intellectual activities are less susceptible to dementia.

Besides the baseline data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, volunteers provided blood samples that were analyzed for gene variants that may contribute to dementia. These included the APOE variants so important for Alzheimer disease along with more than a hundred others.

Who Developed Dementia?

During the five years of the study, about 1 percent of the volunteers developed dementia. Those who had participated in adult education courses were 19 percent less likely to be among them than those who had not. This held up well even when the investigators adjusted for genetic predisposition to dementia, such as the presence of APOE4.

What is more, participants maintained their fluid intelligence and nonverbal reasoning better, too. On the other hand, classes didn’t seem to affect visuospatial memory or reaction time. Perhaps the most popular classes don’t emphasize the use of visuospatial memory.

The authors conclude,

“In conclusion, the present study showed that participation in adult education classes was associated with higher retention of subsequent fluid intelligence and a lower risk of developing dementia ≥ 5 years. This association did not change after adjusting for cognitive function at baseline or genetic predisposition to dementia.”

They point out that we should not infer causality from this observational study. However, attending adult education courses seems like a pleasant way to reduce the risk of dementia. Other approaches include staying physically active as well as following a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits and whole grains rather than processed foods.

Learn More:

If you are interested in preventing Alzheimer disease, you might want to listen to a recent People’s Pharmacy podcast. It is Show 1451: Rethinking Dementia: Is What We Believed About Alzheimer’s Wrong?