The medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology has published an article that found that people with more years of education may be better able to recover from a traumatic brain injury. Those with an education equal to a college degree were more than seven times more likely to fully recover from their injury than people who did not finish high school.
The cognitive reserve theory is that people with more education have a greater cognitive reserve, or the brain's ability to maintain function in spite of damage. The concept has emerged for brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, where people with higher levels of education have been shown to have fewer symptoms of the disease than people with less education, even when they have the same amount of damage in the brain from the disease.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Friday April 25 2014, @06:26AM
It would seem that more intelligent people, on average, tend to obtain more education over their lifetime. Intelligence is, after all, the ability to learn, not the amount rote material stored in the brain.
If someone who is barely able to function in society is cognitively impaired by 50% they often become invalids. Someone with greater intelligence, suffering the same impairment, probably still has enough in reserve to manage their own affairs in spite of the damage of Alzheimers.
I'm not sure the amount of education has anything to do with it.
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(Score: 2) by ls671 on Friday April 25 2014, @06:40AM
It makes sense but I would formulate it as "people who are used to learn stuff and re-arrange their brain to develop new capabilities".
That phenomenon has been observed before, as you learn/develop new capabilities, new links grow in your brain similar to the roots of a plant. Einstein brain was sliced and was different than most others but we ain't sure if he was born like that or if its brain got modified because of the way he was thinking although I would vouch for the latter. Also, he got kicked out of university and he never liked conventional school much.
People who are used to "grow new roots" (or links) in their brain should then be able to grow some easier to recuperate from a brain injury.
But, this has got nothing to do with conventional education (i.e. school system) although people with an ability to do that might succeed better in the conventional educational system.
I think somebody intelligent which has been living and surviving in a desert island for 20 years since he/she was, say 10 years old could show the same abilities.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by GoonDu on Friday April 25 2014, @09:09AM
I know they studied those with moderate to serious brain injury but the groupings are based on the education level only instead of education level AND the severity of brain injuries. For all we know, maybe those college education are those with moderate brain injuries.
That said, the article kinda makes sense but there could also be other factors involved. As far as I know, people with brain injuries have some kind of rehab. Quality or even lack of rehab and willingness of the participant would probably be a more telling factor.
(Score: 3, Funny) by marcello_dl on Friday April 25 2014, @10:18AM
Brain recovers quickly because it has practiced fighting off previous brain damage known as, you guessed it, "education".