{"id":3576,"date":"2020-10-10T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-10T10:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kompetenz-statt-demenz.dsgip.de\/?page_id=3576"},"modified":"2020-10-10T12:19:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-10T10:19:08","slug":"cognitive-reserve-a-protective-factor-against-dementia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kompetenz-statt-demenz.dsgip.de\/en\/cognitive-reserve-a-protective-factor-against-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Cognitive Reserve – A protective factor against dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The degree of cognitive impairment of elderly people who develop major neurocognitive disorders can be extremely heterogeneous.\u00a0 For example, it has been observed that very long-lived people can live free of cognitive or functional impairments, even though they have had pathological findings in the brain, i.e. brain damage.There is also growing evidence that the brain responds to experiences throughout life. These facts have awakened scientific interest, particularly in understanding protective strategies for cognition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous studies have found that illiteracy and lower educational level were associated with higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. Other studies have shown that cognitively stimulating activities throughout life have a protector effect to dementia and that such effect is due to neural mechanisms not directly related to pathological changes.This suggests that people with higher educational and occupational levels are less likely to develop dementia, even if their brains have pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease (i.e., AB plaques and tau-tangles).<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been postulated that such individuals have a \u201creserve\u201d, i.e. they have more connections, neurons and knowledge to be damaged, before developing symptoms of dementia. The term <\/span>cognitive reserve<\/b> (CR) has been used to explain why some people can tolerate more age-related and\/or pathological changes in the brain than others and still maintain their cognitive function.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of CR suggests that our brain actively tries to deal with its own damage by using existing cognitive processes or by recruiting compensatory processes. It should be differentiated from the so-called \u201c<\/span>brain reserve\u201d which refers specifically to individual differences in the structural characteristics of the brain (e.g. brain volume, number of turns) which affords resilience against neurodegenerative diseases. Another way to think about it: consider brain reserve is the hardware while cognitive reserve is the software running inside of it. The term that encompasses both is <\/span>global reserve<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cognitive-reserve-A-protective-factor-against-dementia\"<\/p>\n

Cognitive reserve refers to the degree an individual\u2019s ability to tolerate brain aggression and thus protect him\/herself against the appearance of symptoms resulting from neuropathological damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, people with a greater cognitive reserve would eventually develop dementia syndrome as their neurodegenerative disease progressed.\u00a0 This delay allows a longer deficit-free survival and limits\u00a0 any functional disability to a shorter period.<\/span><\/p>\n

Factors that contribute to the development of the cognitive reserve:<\/span><\/p>\n