Chronic inflammation in early adulthood can impair cognitive performance by midlife, with 39% of young adults showing high inflammation levels. Digest
Research demonstrates that inflammation in later life harms the brain, increasing the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. However, scientists don’t fully understand the effects of inflammation that begins in early adulthood. A recent study found that inflammation during early adulthood markedly impairs cognitive performance in midlife.
The research involved more than 2,300 young adults (aged 24 to 58) enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. Researchers tracked the participants' inflammation levels, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP), for about 18 years. Five years after their last CRP measurement, the participants completed tests that measured their verbal memory, processing speed, executive function, verbal fluency, category fluency, and overall cognition.
The researchers identified three inflammation patterns among the participants: lower stable (45%), moderate/increasing (16%), and consistently higher (39%). Participants with consistently higher CRP levels were 67 percent more likely to experience poor processing speed and 36 percent more likely to have poor executive function than those with stable, low CRP levels. Those with moderate/increasing CRP levels were twice as likely to have poor processing speed. There were no significant associations between CRP levels and memory, verbal fluency, category fluency, or overall cognition.
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