Variation in Adult Cognition Across Domains and Life Course Place Effects in the UK

Abstract

This study explores the role that place of birth and place of residence have in variation in cognition in adulthood in the UK. We take advantage of both the large sample size and number of cognitive domains in the UK Biobank to estimate the effect of place of birth and place of residence on adulthood cognition using multilevel modeling. We find, consistent with studies in the US, that place effects at both time points contribute modest variation (<3% of the variation) across all measured cognitive domains, suggesting a relative lack of contribution of shared environments in explaining future Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. Moreover, the geographical contribution to cognitive function in adulthood was slightly larger for females than for males. This study is among the first to explore the impact of both the independent and joint associations of place of birth and place of residence with different cognitive domains.