> Does the pandits’ substantial increase in the gray matter of critical verbal memory organs mean they are less prone to devastating memory pathologies such as Alzheimer's? We don't know yet, though anecdotal reports from India's Ayurvedic doctors suggest this may be the case.
If there is such an association, self-selection bias must be accounted for. It might be that dementia risk factors or subclinical pre-dementia pathology makes a person less likely to pursue training as a pandit.
Also, anecdotal reports from Ayurvedic doctors suggest a lot of things. For example, that the right sort of yoga practice leads to 80-year-olds who look and feel like teenagers.
I don't think the children involved in the training have a great deal of choice in the matter. Most priests then start their career almost immediately as adults.
If there is such an association, self-selection bias must be accounted for. It might be that dementia risk factors or subclinical pre-dementia pathology makes a person less likely to pursue training as a pandit.
Also, anecdotal reports from Ayurvedic doctors suggest a lot of things. For example, that the right sort of yoga practice leads to 80-year-olds who look and feel like teenagers.