Sweden Analysis Reveals Key Lifestyle and Socioeconomic Factors Driving Cognitive Decline

Petronella Kettunen, PhD

(Credit: University of Gothenburg)

A recent analysis from the Gothenburg Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) Study presented at the 2025 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease (AD/PD), held April 1-5 in Vienna, Austria, highlighted how lifestyle and socioeconomic factors influence the risk of developing cognitive diseases, with education level and smoking emerging as key contributors to disease progression.¹

Researchers analyzed data from 901 participants, including healthy individuals, those with mild cognitive impairment, and patients diagnosed with Alzheimer disease (AD), mixed dementia (MIX), or subcortical small-vessel disease (SSVD). The study examined variables such as education, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure (BP) in relation to cognitive function and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers.

Findings revealed significant correlations between cognitive function and multiple lifestyle and socioeconomic variables, including education, alcohol consumption, BMI, and BP. Additionally, biomarker analysis linked these factors to both amyloid and vascular pathologies. Survival analysis over a 10-year period showed that lower education levels increased the likelihood of developing MIX and SSVD, whereas smoking specifically heightened the risk of SSVD.

Presented by senior author Petronella Kettunen, PhD, associate professor and research group leader in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry at the University of Gothenburg, these results underscored the potential impact of modifiable lifestyle factors on dementia prevention. Researchers emphasized the need for further intervention trials to explore strategies for reducing cognitive disease risk through lifestyle modifications.

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Building on previous findings from the study that education and smoking impact the risk of developing cognitive diseases, another analysis from the Gothenburg MCI Study highlighted on how lifestyle and socioeconomic factors affect cognitive function directly. This analysis, also presented at AD/PD 2025, delved deeper into the relationship between these variables and performance on a range of neuropsychological tests.²

Assessing data from the same participants, the analysis focused on the relationship between lifestyle factors and cognitive performance as measured by tests such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and Trail Making Tests (TMT). The study reported that education was strongly associated with cognitive performance across most test scores, potentially reinforcing the idea that higher education levels could offer protective effects against cognitive decline.

Additional findings showed that smoking status was linked to verbal function and processing speed, whereas alcohol use influenced executive function and memory tasks. Interestingly, BMI was also correlated with memory and verbal function, and blood pressure was associated with a wide range of cognitive test scores.

These findings further underscored the significant role that modifiable lifestyle factors could play in cognitive health as individuals age. With potential preventive interventions on the horizon, the research potentially calls for future studies to explore targeted strategies that can mitigate cognitive decline and support healthy aging.

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REFERENCES
1. Locatelli F, Irum T, Basic E, et al. Effects of lifestyle and socioeconomic variables on the risk of converting to cognitive diseases in the Gothenburg Mild Cognitive Impairment Study. Presented at: 2025 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease (AD/PD); April 1-5. Vienna, Austria. Abstract 2211.
2. Basic E, Irum T, Locatelli F, et al. Lifestyle Factors Associate with Cognitive Function in Elderly Participants of the Gothenburg Mild Cognitive Impairment Study. Presented at: 2025 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease (AD/PD); April 1-5. Vienna, Austria. Abstract 2157.