New Dementia Study Connects Back to Cold War Aptitude Test

Participants in a 1960 national longitudinal aptitude study for high school graduates in Madison, Wis., are now being asked to participate in a new study on aging and dementia, according to the Associated Press . The tests were circulated via Project Talent following the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, their purpose to assess the "diversity of the American high school experience." Questionnaires were recently sent to 128 of 382 high school graduates from the classes of 1960-63. The researchers hope to detect factors that help prevent Alzheimer's disease by comparing the participants' test scores from nearly six decades ago to their current health status. "We have all of these very rich early life measures," says Project Talent's Susan Lapham. "Now we want to look at what are the adolescent predictors of later life outcomes." Lapham notes a possible connection between good reading skills in youth and a reduced risk of dementia in older age could encourage more educational emphasis on reading programs. "Early-life brain activity seems to be very important in being a protective factor against dementia," she says.