Children who have strong neurocognitive skills may have better health in later life, research suggests, after finding they were at reduced risk of premature death many years later. However, benefits in three of the neurocognitive functions examined—performance IQ, full-scale IQ, and arithmetic skills—were mitigated by family dysfunction and poverty.
The study revealed the decades-long benefits of greater neurocognitive function in areas such as visual-motor function, sensory-motor function, auditory-vocal association, IQ, and academic skills. Nearly all the neurocognitive scores were associated with the risk of mortality in mid-adulthood, the team noted in JAMA Network Open.
“This provides robust evidence that neurocognitive development across a range of areas is beneficial for adult longevity,’ reported Jing Yu, PhD, from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, MD.
However, the team added, “The results of our study suggest that for individuals exposed to multiple overlapping adversities, neurocognitive skills alone may not be sufficient to mitigate risks. Targeted approaches need to be identified to promote resilience in these high-risk groups.”
The study included children born between 1959 and 1966 to mothers recruited while pregnant into the Collaborative Perinatal Project, which was conducted at 12 U.S. medical centers. Just over half of the 49,853 children were boys, who were followed through to mid-adulthood. Overall, 46.8% of the mothers were Black, 45.7% were White, and 7.5% were from other races.
Five neurocognitive tests were administered to the children during developmental assessments when they were around seven years of age. These included: the Bender Gestalt Test for visual-motor function; the Tactile Finger Recognition Test for sensory-motor function; the auditory-vocal association test for abstract language thinking; the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children, consisting of verbal, performance, and full-scale IQ; and the Wide Range Achievement Test for educational achievement, covering spelling, reading, and arithmetic skills.
Eight of the nine neurocognitive scores were associated with the risk of all-cause mortality, after adjusting for childhood adversity and other potential confounders. Each standard deviation higher score on the neurocognitive tests was associated with between a 9% (auditory-vocal association function) and 15% (full-scale IQ) lower risk of all-cause mortality through midadulthood, identified using information collected on the National Death Index through to 2016.
While most neurocognitive functions were associated with all-cause mortality irrespective of exposure to childhood adversity, performance IQ, full-scale IQ, and arithmetic skills—mainly reflecting nonverbal cognitive abilities such as abstract reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and attention to detail—were beneficial for children exposed to low adversity or limited types of childhood adversity, such as poverty.
Full scale and performance IQ and arithmetic skills were associated with a lower mortality risk of between 11% (IQ) to 23% (arithmetic skills) for children exposed to low adversity, crowded housing, and poverty, or family instability, but not for those exposed to severe patterns of adversities.
“Children with higher neurocognitive functions may be more likely to obtain higher educational attainment, occupation status, and income and to engage in more health-promoting behaviors such as less smoking, more healthful dietary choices, and more physical activity throughout adulthood,” the researchers speculated.
“Evidence that adjusting for adult SES [socioeconomic status] and adult health-related behaviors largely attenuates the effects of childhood IQ on mortality supports these as potential mechanisms.”
The team added: “Relatively favorable social and economic conditions might promote adaptability to the environment and improve long-term survival. In contrast, exposure to severe adversities, such as the combined challenges of family dysfunction and economic hardships, may profoundly impact children’s neurocognitive developmental trajectories and create high-risk environments in both childhood and adulthood that weaken otherwise protective effects of higher neurocognition on long-term health.”
