A major new study from Florida State University challenges long-held assumptions about marriage and brain health, revealing that unmarried individuals may be less likely to develop dementia.
A new study led by Florida State University researchers has found that being unmarried may lower the risk of developing dementia—contradicting earlier research that linked marriage to better brain health.
The study tracked over 24,000 Americans without dementia for up to 18 years, analyzing marital status against cognitive decline. Initially, all unmarried groups—divorced, widowed, and never-married—appeared to have lower dementia risks. However, after adjusting for factors like smoking and depression, only divorced and never-married individuals maintained a lower risk.
“Married people might be diagnosed earlier because they have spouses who notice memory problems and push for a doctor’s visit,” researchers noted. This phenomenon, called ascertainment bias, could partly explain the findings.
The study also found that being unmarried was linked with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease but not vascular dementia. It challenges the notion that marriage is inherently protective, instead pointing to the complex influence of relationship dynamics, social support, and personal well-being on cognitive health.