Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, Physical, and Psychosocial Determinants of Cognitive Reserve

Abstract

Background: Cognitive reserve aims to explain individual differences in the susceptibility to the functional impact of dementia in the presence of equal amount of neuropathological damage. It is thought to be shaped by a combination of innate individual differences and lifetime exposures. Which determinants are associated with cognitive reserve remains unknown. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the associations of sociodemographic, lifestyle, physical, and psychosocial determinants with cognitive reserve, and potential sex differences. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 4,309 participants from the Rotterdam Study (mean age 63.9±10.7) between 2006–2016. Participants completed five cognitive tests and a brain MRI-scan. Cognitive reserve was defined as a latent variable that captures variance common across five cognitive tests, while adjusting for demographic and MRI-inferred neuropathological factors. The associations of potential determinants and cognitive reserve, adjusted for relevant confounders, were assessed with structural equation models. Results: Current smoking (adjusted mean difference: –0.31, 95%confidence interval –0.42; –0.19), diabetes mellitus (–0.25, –0.40; –0.10) and depressive symptoms (–0.07/SD, –0.12; –0.03) were associated with a lower cognitive reserve whereas alcohol use (0.07/SD, 0.03; 0.12) was associated with higher cognitive reserve. Only smoking was associated with cognitive reserve in both men and women. Employment, alcohol use, diabetes, history of cancer, COPD, and depressive symptoms were only associated with cognitive reserve in women. Conclusion: Our study found that current smoking, diabetes mellitus, and depressive symptoms were associated with a lower cognitive reserve, whereas more alcohol use was associated with a higher cognitive reserve, but with clear differences between men and women.

Exploring cognitive reserve's influence: unveiling the dynamics of digital telerehabilitation in Parkinson's Disease Resilience

“…However, only the CRI_Leisure_Time tends to be also a signi cant predictor of 6MWD increment in the group of patients with a positive response to the intervention. Differently from early-life CR proxies such as educational attainment which are relatively constat during life, late-life CR determinants build up throughout life, even as people grow older 39,40 . Our ndings suggest that the practice of various recreational, social and sporting activities during middle and late adulthood might predict a better outcome of telerehabilitation treatment.…”

Frequency-dependent functional alterations in people living with HIV with early stage of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder

“…In our study, homotopic functional connectivity abnormalities in the bilateral precuneus were detected; however, the reduction was not linked to any of the six assessed domains. One possible reason is the differences in brain reserve and cognitive reserve among PLWHs, which are influenced by neurobiological capacity, genetically determined innate differences, and lifetime exposures (e.g., education, intelligence, and physical activity) ( Stern et al, 2019 ; Zijlmans et al, 2022 ).…”

The Association of Life Stress with Subsequent Brain and Cognitive Reserve in Middle-Aged Women

“…Cognitive reserve was quantified using the residual approach [ 24, 33 ], such that a higher cognitive reserve reflects better cognitive functioning than expected based on demographics and structural brain MRI measures, following previous literature [ 9, 24, 25 ]. Using structural equation modelling, cognitive reserve was calculated as a reflective latent variable using six different cognitive tests as indicators.…”

“…Several factors have been proposed to positively influence reserve, such as high childhood school grades [ 6 ], occupational complexity [ 7 ], and healthy lifestyle [ 8 ]. Conversely, factors such as smoking, diabetes mellitus, depression, and early life stress have been associated with lower reserve in late life [ 9–11 ].…”