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posted by janrinok on Tuesday October 08 2019, @03:15PM   Printer-friendly

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Young adults who experience annual income drops of 25 percent or more may be more at risk of having thinking problems and reduced brain health in middle age, according to a study published in the October 2, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Income volatility is at a record level since the 1980s and there is growing evidence that it may have pervasive effects on health, yet policies intending to smooth unpredictable income changes are being weakened in the United States and many other countries,” said study author Leslie Grasset, PhD, of the Inserm Research Center in Bordeaux, France. “Our exploratory study followed participants in the United States through the recession in the late 2000s when many people experienced economic instability. Our results provide evidence that higher income volatility and more income drops during peak earning years are linked to unhealthy brain aging in middle age.

” The study involved 3,287 people who were 23 to 35 years old at the start of the study and were enrolled in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which includes a racially diverse population. Participants reported their annual pre-tax household income every three to five years for 20 years, from 1990 to 2010. Researchers examined how often income dropped as well as the percentage of change in income between 1990 and 2010 for each participant. Based on the number of income drops, participants fell into three groups: 1,780 people who did not have an income drop; 1,108 who had one drop of 25 percent or more from the previous reported income; and 399 people who had two or more such drops. Participants were given thinking and memory tests that measured how well they completed tasks and how much time it took to complete them. For one test, participants used a key that paired numbers 1 to 9 with symbols.

They were then given a list of numbers and had to write down the corresponding symbols. Researchers found that people with two or more income drops had worse performances in completing tasks than people with no income drops. On average, they scored worse by 3.74 points or 2.8 percent. “For reference, this poor performance is greater than what is normally seen due to one year in aging, which is equivalent to scoring worse by only 0.71 points on average or 0.53 percent”, said Grasset. Participants with more income drops also scored worse on how much time it took to complete some tasks. The results were the same after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect thinking skills, such as high blood pressure, education level, physical activity and smoking. There was no difference between the groups on tests that measured verbal memory.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @03:59PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @03:59PM (#904129)

    Starting out is often a bumpy road. One lacks hands-on experience, including navigating office politics. A lucky few hit their stride early, but early struggles are common in my experience and observation.

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:22PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:22PM (#904140)

    All fine and good, but this study seems to point out that having effective safety nets that keep people from worrying about suddenly becoming homeless might have a net beneficial effect for the entire country. BuT DaSs SoCIaLisM! wargleburgle!!!

    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:50PM (5 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday October 08 2019, @04:50PM (#904168) Homepage Journal

      Correlation is not causation.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @05:27PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @05:27PM (#904194)

        Yet that logic is perfectly fine for you to refute the article. #Facepalm

        You really do suck at everything but perl huh? Maybe fishing, but I have a feeling that is just troll-whistling for your sexual activities.

        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday October 08 2019, @06:36PM (1 child)

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday October 08 2019, @06:36PM (#904232) Homepage Journal

          I made no argument confusing correlation and causation. You really need to pay better attention.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @07:02PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @07:02PM (#904249)

            Yup, TMB is too dumb as usual, with a healthy mix of denial. Can't fix what never worked in the first place!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:42PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 08 2019, @10:42PM (#904374)

        Is that all your IQ was able to produce?

      • (Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday October 09 2019, @06:34AM

        by dry (223) on Wednesday October 09 2019, @06:34AM (#904557) Journal

        It often is. You get punched in the face and you feel pain, do you not consider the correlation or do you stupidly sit there wondering why the pain in the face?