A study of over 10,000 Swedish individuals found that higher scores on inductive reasoning tests at age 13 are associated with a reduced risk of dementia six decades later.

Researchers tracking 10,539 Swedish individuals over 60 years have identified a potential link between childhood cognitive ability and long-term dementia risk. The study, published in Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, found that children who performed better on inductive reasoning tests at age 13 were less likely to develop dementia later in life, regardless of their education or physical health history.

Study Methodology and Findings

The research team analyzed data from 10,539 Swedish individuals born in 1948 who completed cognitive tests in 1961 as sixth graders. These tests measured three specific mental abilities: inductive reasoning, verbal ability, and spatial ability. Researchers tracked these participants through November 2025 by linking their childhood test scores to Swedish national hospital and death registers to identify diagnoses of dementia, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The results indicated that higher scores on the inductive reasoning number-series test were specifically associated with a lower risk of dementia. Each additional point on this test correlated with approximately a 2% reduction in dementia risk in later life. Conversely, verbal and spatial ability tests did not show the same predictive pattern for long-term dementia risk.

Accounting for External Factors

A significant challenge in dementia research is separating cognitive ability from the influence of education, life experiences, and family environment. By testing children at age 13, before major differences in schooling and social pathways were fully established, the researchers aimed to isolate the impact of early reasoning skills. The observed link between childhood inductive reasoning and lower dementia risk remained consistent even after adjusting for parental education, the participants' own midlife education levels, and major physical illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Notably, once childhood reasoning ability was accounted for, midlife education did not show an independent effect on dementia risk.