People who are highly educated score much better on neuropsychological tests than people with low levels of education. You may recall that when my patient Frieda Kohlberg, who had a genius-level IQ developed only very subtle memory deficits and otherwise tested at or above the normal range for someone her age, it was actually the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. But compared to other tests of intelligence and cognitive ability, memory is less affected by the subject’s educational background.
Gender
You may be wondering about the third leg of the triad: age, education, and gender. In fact, there are subtle differences: women score slightly better on tests of verbal memory, and men score slightly better on tests of nonverbal memory (unusual shapes and diagrams that cannot be “coded” verbally for recall) and mathematical ability. However, these differences are very small and may result more from bias during the educational process than from a true genetic influence.
If You Get Neuropsychological Testing
If you get neuropsychological testing, you should find out from the neuropsychologist if the actual raw scores were used to make the interpretation or if they were adjusted for age and other factors. If
you do well with or without age and education adjustments, your mental faculties are in excellent condition. If you need such adjustments to raise you into the normal range for people at your age and education level, then you probably have subtle age-related memory loss. If you score poorly, whether age and education adjustments are made, your memory loss is severe enough that you should go see a physician (if you haven’t already).
Taken From: The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss
and Enhance Memory Power
