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# Only the cognitive part of education's polygenic score tracks Alzheimer's disease
- URL: https://www.coios.me/only-the-cognitive-part-of-education-s-polygenic-score/
- Published: 2026-09-23T12:45:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T21:35:16.000Z
- Description: Across four cohorts totalling 3,483 participants, the cognitive component of an educational attainment polygenic score was inversely associated with Alzheimer's diagnosis and with Braak stage, while the non-cognitive component showed no association with any outcome.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Healthcare today, Dementia, The sources behind the numbers, Biotechnology against inherited risk and ageing, United States, United Kingdom, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-09

The study split a polygenic score for educational attainment into a cognitive component linked to intelligence and a non-cognitive component covering behaviour and circumstance, and tested each against Alzheimer's outcomes in two biomarker cohorts and two neuropathology cohorts, 3,483 participants in all. The cognitive component was inversely associated with clinical diagnosis in all four cohorts and with Braak stage in both post-mortem cohorts. The non-cognitive component showed no association with diagnosis, plasma biomarkers, amyloid PET status or CERAD scores.

*Why it is interesting: It splits the apparent protective effect of education into a part that tracks neuropathology and a part that does not.*

Source

[Annals of Neurology, 22 September 2026](https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.78367?ref=coios.me)

DOI

10.1002/ana.78367

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Polygenic score association study across four cohorts (BioHermes-1 n=770; ADNI n=1,361; ROSMAP n=841; BDR n=511), with biomarker and post-mortem outcomes

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Dementia](https://www.coios.me/d-dementia/)

Driver

[The sources behind the numbers](https://www.coios.me/d-data-sources/)

Driver

[Biotechnology against inherited risk and ageing](https://www.coios.me/d-biotechnology/)