BOSTON, MA (WOWO) Long-term financial hardship may affect more than a person’s finances — new research suggests decades of economic stress may also be linked to faster brain aging and cognitive decline.

A study from University College London found that adults who experienced persistent low income or financial hardship throughout their lives showed weaker performance on cognitive tests and signs of poorer brain health later in life.

Researchers analyzed data from 2,759 participants in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, a long-running study tracking people in the United Kingdom who were born in 1946.

Participants who experienced ongoing financial hardship performed worse on tests measuring verbal memory and processing speed compared with those who had fewer financial challenges.

MRI scans also showed differences in brain health among people with persistent low income, including markers associated with aging such as brain shrinkage and enlarged ventricles.

Dr. Jacques Wels, a study author from the Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at University College London, said researchers wanted to better understand how financial experiences across a person’s lifetime may influence cognitive health.

“While we know well that cognitive decline is associated with both genetic risks and adverse childhood experience, we knew very little about what happens during the life course — particularly, the experience of persistent financial stress over the lifetime,” Wels told Fox News Digital.

Wels said the findings point to a relationship between accumulated financial hardship and cognitive decline.

“The study clearly demonstrates … that the accumulation of poverty is linked to cognitive decline,” he said.

Researchers said the results were consistent across multiple measures of financial adversity and cognitive health, strengthening the findings.

The strongest associations were found among men, people who experienced disadvantaged childhoods, and individuals who carried the APOE-ε4 genetic variant, which is linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Wels said the findings show that brain health is influenced not only by genetics and personal behaviors but also by life experiences that people may not always be able to control.

“The study shows that cognitive decline is both a matter of genetic risks and individual behaviors, [but] it is also affected by the experiences we live [throughout] our lives that we don’t always have control [over],” Wels said.

Researchers suggested that the effects may be tied to chronic financial stress over many years rather than short-term periods of economic difficulty.

The study authors proposed several possible explanations, including the effects of long-term stress on inflammation and the mental burden created by ongoing financial worries.

Persistent concerns about meeting basic needs may require significant mental resources, potentially increasing what researchers described as cognitive load over time.

The researchers cautioned that the study does not prove financial hardship directly causes cognitive decline because it was observational and could not establish cause and effect.

The study also focused on people born in 1946, meaning their experiences were shaped by the economic and social conditions of their generation.

Wels noted that stronger effects among men may reflect traditional expectations from older generations, including the role of men as primary financial providers.

“For instance, we found stronger effects among males, which reflects the ‘breadwinner’ role of men in older cohorts, something we might not observe in more recent generations,” Wels said.

Researchers also acknowledged that other factors not measured in the study could have influenced the results.

While improving long-term financial conditions could potentially support better brain health outcomes, the researchers said additional studies are needed to determine whether changes in economic circumstances can directly reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

The findings add to a growing body of research examining how social and economic conditions throughout life may influence health outcomes later in adulthood.