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Structured adult learning outside school or job associates with improved plasma markers of age

Hu, W. T.; Migut, M.; Horvath, H.; Singer, S.; Lanza Lopez, L.; Nayyar, A.; Li, M.-l.; Su, G.; Shiau, S.; Bergren, S.; Koller, M.; Chapman, B.; Duberstein, P.; Cantor, J. C.

2026-01-13 public and global health
10.64898/2026.01.11.26343888 medRxiv
Show abstract

BackgroundPeak educational attainment is linked to early life general cognitive abilities, mid-life socioeconomic status, and late-life dementia risks. Yet, it is difficult to study its mechanisms acting across decades of life given diverse paths towards peak attainment and lifelong learning opportunities. MethodsWe analyzed profiles of peak educational attainment, adult learning (formal, job-related, non-formal, informal), and their relationships to novel plasma proteomic markers of age in a regionally representative cohort of 580 adults. ResultsOne in three participants obtained their highest degrees beyond first three decades of life, with differential associations with parental education and personality traits. Similar associations were observed for job-related, non-formal (structured learning outside of school or job), and self-directed informal learning. Only non-formal learning correlated with a protective profile of plasma proteins reflecting age-associated vascular dysfunction and arthritis. ConclusionNon-formal adult learning may improve plasma age markers and should be further investigated.

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"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.