Abstract
BackgroundThe early exposure to poor social and nutritional conditions may influence cognitive function during adult age. However, the relative impact of these factors has not yet been established and they can vary during the course of life.MethodsAnalysis of data from 12,997 participants (35-64 years) of the baseline exams (2008-2010) of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), a cohort of Brazilian civil servants. Four cognitive tests were applied: learning, recall and word recognition; semantic and phonemic verbal fluency; trail-making test version B. The markers of early nutritional and social conditions were maternal educational level, birth weight, and length of trunk and leg. The presence of independent association between every early marker and the poor performance in each cognitive test was investigated by multiple logistic regression, after mutual adjustment and considering the effects of gender, age and participant’s schooling level. The cut off for poor performance was the worst age-specific percentile of the final score distribution for each test.ResultsAfter full adjustments, lower maternal education increased the chances of poor performance in all cognitive tests, with a dose-response gradient; low birth-weight was related to poor performance in the trail-making test B (OR = 1.63, 95% IC = 1.29-2.06); and greater trunk length decreased the chances of poor performance in the semantic and phonemic verbal fluency (OR = 0.96, 95% IC = 0.94-0.97) and in the trail-making test B (OR = 0.94, 95% IC = 0.92-0.95). Leg length was not associated with any of the tests examined. The associations found were not modified by the educational attainment of the participants.ConclusionsEarly exposure to adverse social and nutritional conditions appear detrimental to semantic memory, learning, concentration, executive control and language among adults, independent of adulthood educational achievement.
Highlights
The early exposure to poor social and nutritional conditions may influence cognitive function during adult age
Non-normative ageing refers to effects that go beyond the normative process and result in rapid cognitive decline, even before a disease such as Alzheimer’s is
Lower socioeconomic status during childhood was independently associated with worse semantic memory and increased rate of cognitive decline in later life among an ethnically diverse cohort in the US [8]
Summary
The early exposure to poor social and nutritional conditions may influence cognitive function during adult age. Lifetime cognitive development results from a combination of normative and non-normative processes that affect cerebral function [1]. Non-normative ageing refers to effects that go beyond the normative process and result in rapid cognitive decline, even before a disease such as Alzheimer’s is Children from families with low socioeconomic position (SEP) have much greater chances of worse health and psychological well-being, as well of impaired cognitive and emotional development throughout the lifespan [3]. Lower socioeconomic status during childhood was independently associated with worse semantic memory and increased rate of cognitive decline in later life among an ethnically diverse cohort in the US [8]. The influence of lifetime SEP on cognitive ageing is important to low and middle income countries due to the enduring and profound social inequalities as well the high prevalence of poverty that prevails in most of these societies
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