Education and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease

In normal aging, an association exists between level of education and verbal abilities. Clinical experience suggests that this relationship may also hold true in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we examined performance on selected verbal and nonverbal neuropsychological tests in a series of 51 patients with probable AD. Performance on two verbal measures - the National Adult Reading Test-Revised (NART-R) and the Vocabulary subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) - showed strong correlations with level of education. Scores on three nonverbal tests - WAIS-R Block Design, WAIS-R Digit Symbol, and Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination clock drawings - were unrelated to education. Consistent with our hypothesis, AD patients with higher premorbid education showed better performance on certain measures of verbal competence. These results indicate that, as in normal aging, education is associated with verbal abilities in AD.