Francisca S Rodriguez1,2, Ling Zheng3, Helena C Chui3. 1. Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, frodrigu@rhrk.uni-kl.de. 2. Center for Cognitive Science, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, frodrigu@rhrk.uni-kl.de. 3. USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The capacity to mitigate dementia symptomology despite the prevailing brain pathology has been attributed to cognitive reserve. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate how psychometric performance differs between individuals with a high school versus college education (surrogate measures for medium and high cognitive reserves) given the same level of brain pathology assessed using quantitative structural MRI. METHODS: We used data from the Aging Brain: Vasculature, Ischemia, and Behavior Study (ABVIB). Cognition was assessed using a neuropsychological battery that included those contained in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) uniform data set. Participants with a medium and high cognitive reserve were matched by level of structural MRI changes, gender, and age. RESULTS: Matched-pair regression analyses indicated that individuals with a higher education had a significantly better performance in recognition and verbal fluency animals, working memory, and processing speed in complex tasks. Moreover, they had a better performance in interference trails compared to individuals with a high school education (medium cognitive reserve). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that, given the same level of brain pathology, individuals with a higher education (cognitive reserve) benefit from a superior performance in semantic memory and executive functioning. Differences in these cognitive domains may be key pathways explaining how individuals with a high cognitive reserve are able to diminish dementia symptomatology despite physical changes in the brain.
BACKGROUND: The capacity to mitigate dementia symptomology despite the prevailing brain pathology has been attributed to cognitive reserve. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate how psychometric performance differs between individuals with a high school versus college education (surrogate measures for medium and high cognitive reserves) given the same level of brain pathology assessed using quantitative structural MRI. METHODS: We used data from the Aging Brain: Vasculature, Ischemia, and Behavior Study (ABVIB). Cognition was assessed using a neuropsychological battery that included those contained in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) uniform data set. Participants with a medium and high cognitive reserve were matched by level of structural MRI changes, gender, and age. RESULTS: Matched-pair regression analyses indicated that individuals with a higher education had a significantly better performance in recognition and verbal fluency animals, working memory, and processing speed in complex tasks. Moreover, they had a better performance in interference trails compared to individuals with a high school education (medium cognitive reserve). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that, given the same level of brain pathology, individuals with a higher education (cognitive reserve) benefit from a superior performance in semantic memory and executive functioning. Differences in these cognitive domains may be key pathways explaining how individuals with a high cognitive reserve are able to diminish dementia symptomatology despite physical changes in the brain.
Authors: Yasamin Salimi; Daniel Domingo-Fernández; Carlos Bobis-Álvarez; Martin Hofmann-Apitius; Colin Birkenbihl Journal: Alzheimers Res Ther Date: 2022-05-21 Impact factor: 8.823