Money worries can leave a lasting mark on the brain, 80-year study shows

A new study spanning eight decades has found that financial stress leaves a measurable mark on the brain — effects that can persist well into old age. Researchers tracked more than twenty-seven hundred people born in the same week in March nineteen forty-six, now celebrating their eightieth birthdays. They measured financial hardship at multiple points during their working lives, then tested memory and processing speed at age fifty-three, and took brain scans between ages sixty-nine and seventy-one. The finding: people who faced persistent low income or struggled to pay bills scored lower on cognitive tests and showed more brain shrinkage in later life — even after accounting for childhood education and early disadvantage. Chronic financial stress triggers inflammation and accelerates brain aging, while the constant worry consumes cognitive energy needed for other tasks. The researchers can't definitively prove cause and effect, but they argue that reducing financial hardship in working-age adults could help protect brain health and potentially lower dementia rates, according to The Conversation.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton