A recent article published in Economics & Human Biology by LISER and UniLu researchers (J. Olivera, F. Andreoli, A. K. Leist and L. Chauvel) documents the persistent effects of educational inequalities suffered in the past on the differences of cognitive functioning observed today among the older adults in 29 countries. Intact cognitive functioning in old age refers to attention, thinking, understanding, learning, decision-making and problem solving. At older ages, higher starting levels of cognitive functioning are even more important, as processes of cognitive aging lead to declines in cognitive functioning. From an economic perspective, cognitive abilities are an indicator of accumulated human capital that depreciates over time.