Anhaltende Geldprobleme sind mit einer schnelleren Alterung des Gehirns verbunden. Die Studie ergab, dass Menschen, die im frühen und mittleren Erwachsenenalter entweder anhaltende Geldprobleme oder ein anhaltend niedriges Einkommen hatten, im Alter von 53 Jahren in kognitiven Tests weniger gut abschnitten.

It’s almost like persistent stress is bad for you. 

Did the study account for things like being able to afford better food, better healthcare, better access to physical activities, etc? I wouldn’t jump to a conclusion that this is purely „stress because of no money“ related.

I think the hyperfocus on finance buries the core contributors like access to food, housing, and healthcare.

I experienced low income in early adulthood, having grown up in a converted barn and then a trailer, but I quickly turned that around.

Another interpretation based on the article is that those who experienced this had persistent lower brain health. This is not meant to say it’s their own fault, but to say we need to ensure we address the right problem, which in my opinion is to encourage a culture of brain health initiatives and cognitive achievement.

There are three things that come to my mind regarding this.

1. As many others here have pointed out already, stress is horrible for you and needing to worry what you’re gonna eat next and how you’re gonna pay electricity etc. can certainly contribute towards you being in constant fight or flight so to speak.
It accalerates your ageing.

2. People who struggled financially will on average also have had a worse nutritional intake during that time period than people who earn well.
While short on money, a person is less likely to grab organic fruits or that wild caught salmon from the shelves. Struggle meals can be nutritious, but you’ll not be able to cover your needs as well overall.

3. This is where it becomes more vague and i could certainly be wrong, but i can also imagine that people who remain low earners throughout their adulthood on average will also be more likely to have less social contacts, to suffer from depression or just general unhappiness, and therefore also stimulate their brain less on a daily basis with new challenges and knowledge.
Consistently stimulating your brain is key in preventing cognitive decline, so if any factor exists in your life that prevents you from doing so, it will be measurable years and decades down the line unfortunately.

I would be very surprised if there weren’t some correlated factors that aren’t being included. People who do better on cognition tests are overall less likely to be poor would not surprise me, even if you checked for education.

That seems backwards. How about they had money struggles because they’re cognitively weaker in the first place? And maybe this weakness has a different origin? Did this study review that angle?

Wonder how much lifestyle conflates with this. Like, yes, stress bad. But also, the diets and lifestyles of people in that situation are probably worse also, likely with more substance use (including nicotine), less exercise, less varied diets. I wonder how much they controlled for that