High School and Beyond: New Cohort Data for Studying the Social and Biological Pathways through which Education Shapes Midlife Cognition

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the utility of the High School and Beyond (HSB) cohort for studying the impact of early life circumstances and experiences-- especially education-- on risk of midlife cognitive impairment. This nationally representative cohort has provided 40+ years of prospective data on a variety of topics. The 6th follow-up of the study, performed in 2021-22 with surviving cohort members featured lengthy interviews; a home health visit that included blood and saliva collection and anthropometric measures; and linkages to administrative records (e.g., mortality records, prescription records). Interviews included immediate and delayed recall tasks; a phonemic fluency task; a semantic fluency task; working memory tasks; self- reported memory complaints; and detailed information about health conditions. HSB is now an extraordinary resource for studying—using a large, diverse national sample— the effects of educational contexts, opportunities, and outcomes on midlife cognitive functioning and biological markers of ADRD risk.