The study’s lead author was Dr. Justin Golub, an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

“The people who were illiterate in the study developed dementia at an earlier age than people who were literate in the study,” says Jennifer J. Manly, senior author of the paper.

Editor's Note: Katherine Shear, the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry, helps viewers understand a condition known as complicated grief.