Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia pp 11–23Cite as

Consideration of Cognitive Reserve

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Clinical Handbooks in Neuropsychology ((CHNEURO))

Abstract

This chapter reviews the concept of cognitive reserve, including relevant theoretical issues, various means of characterizing this construct, and its clinical implications. We begin with a broad overview of the epidemiological evidence in support of the concept of cognitive reserve, and review neuroimaging studies that contribute to our understanding of this construct. We then review several theoretical issues surrounding the mechanisms by which cognitive reserve confers its benefits, and outline the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of estimating reserve. We conclude by discussing the clinical implications of cognitive reserve and listing several specific recommendations for the application of cognitive reserve in clinical practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   269.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   349.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Katzman R, Aronson M, Fuld P, Kawas C, Brown T, Morgenstern H, et al. Development of dementing illnesses in an 80-year-old volunteer cohort. Ann Neurol. 1989;25:317–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ince PG. Pathological correlates of late-onset dementia in a multicenter community-based population in England and Wales. Lancet. 2001;357(9251):169–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Stern Y. What is cognitive reserve? theory and research application of the reserve concept. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2002;8:448–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Stern Y. Cognitive reserve. Neuropsychologia. 2009;47:2015–28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Katzman R. Education and the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 1993;43:13–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Qiu C, Backman L, Winblad B, Aguero-Torres H, Fratiglioni L. The influence of education on clinically diagnosed dementia incidence and mortality data from the Kungsholmen Project. Arch Neurol. 2001;58(12):2034–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Stern Y, Gurland B, Tatemichi TK, Tang MX, Wilder D, Mayeux R. Influence of education and occupation on the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. J Am Med Assoc. 1994;271:1004–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Akbaraly TN, Portet F, Fustinoni S, Dartigues JF, Artero S, Rouaud O, et al. Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly: results from the Three-City Study. Neurology. 2009;73(11):854–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Scarmeas N, Levy G, Tang MX, Manly J, Stern Y. Influence of leisure activity on the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 2001;57(12):2236–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Schmand B, Smit JH, Geerlings MI, Lindeboom J. The effects of intelligence and education on the development of dementia. A test of the brain reserve hypothesis. Psychol Med. 1997;27(6):1337–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Valenzuela MJ, Sachdev P. Brain reserve and dementia: a systematic review. Psychol Med. 2005;25:1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Albert MS, Jones K, Savage CR, Berkman L, Seeman T, Blazer D, et al. Predictors of cognitive change in older persons: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Psychol Aging. 1995;10:578–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Butler SM, Ashford JW, Snowdon DA. Age, education, and changes in the Mini-Mental State Exam scores of older women: findings from the Nun Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1996;44:675–81.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Chodosh J, Reuben DB, Albert MS, Seeman TE. Predicting cognitive impairment in high-functioning community-dwelling older persons: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002;50:1051–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Christensen H, Korten AE, Jorm AF, Henderson AS, Jacomb PA, Rodgers B, et al. Education and decline in cognitive performance: compensatory but not protective. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 1997;12:323–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Colsher PL, Wallace RB. Longitudinal application of cognitive function measures in a defined population of community-dwelling elders. Ann Epidemiol. 1991;1(3):215–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Farmer ME, Kittner SJ, Rae DS, Bartko JJ, Regier DA. Education and change in cognitive function: the epidemiologic catchment area study. Ann Epidemiol. 1995;5:1–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Lyketsos CG, Chen L-S, Anthony JC. Cognitive decline in adulthood: an 11.5-year follow-up of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. Am J Psychiatr. 1999;156(1):58–65.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Snowdon DA, Ostwald SK, Kane RL. Education, survival and independence in elderly Catholic sisters, 1936–1988. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;130:999–1012.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Stern Y, Alexander GE, Prohovnik I, Mayeux R. Inverse relationship between education and parietotemporal perfusion deficit in Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Neurol. 1992;32:371–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Alexander GE, Furey ML, Grady CL, Pietrini P, Brady DR, Mentis MJ, et al. Association of premorbid intellectual function with cerebral metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease: implications for the cognitive reserve hypothesis. Am J Psychiatry. 1997;154(2):165–72.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Stern Y, Alexander GE, Prohovnik I, Stricks L, Link B, Lennon MC, et al. Relationship between lifetime occupation and parietal flow: implications for a reserve against Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Neurology. 1995;45:55–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Scarmeas N, Zarahn E, Anderson KE, Habeck CG, Hilton J, Flynn J, et al. Association of life activities with cerebral blood flow in Alzheimer disease: implications for the cognitive reserve hypothesis. Arch Neurol. 2003;60:359–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Brickman AM, Siedlecki KL, Muraskin J, Manly JJ, Luchsinger JA, Yeung LK, et al. White matter hyperintensities and cognition: testing the reserve hypothesis. Neurobiol Aging. 2011;32(9):1588–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Rentz DM, Locascio JJ, Becker JA, Moran EK, Eng E, Buckner RL, et al. Cognition, reserve, and amyloid deposition in normal aging. Ann Neurol. 2010;67(3):353–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Bennett DA, Wilson RS, Schneider JA, Evans DA, Mendes De Leon CF, Arnold SE, et al. Education modifies the relation of AD pathology to level of cognitive function in older persons. Neurology. 2003;60(12):1909–15.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Roe CM, Xiong C, Miller JP, Morris JC. Education and Alzheimer disease without dementia: support for the cognitive reserve hypothesis. Neurology. 2007;68(3):223–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Valenzuela MJ. Brain reserve and the prevention of dementia. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2008;21(3):296–302.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Piras F, Cherubini A, Caltagirone C, Spalletta G. Education mediates microstructural changes in bilateral hippocampus. Hum Brain Mapp. 2011;32(2):282–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kesler SR, Adams HF, Blasey CM, Bigler ED. Premorbid intellectual functioning, education, and brain size in traumatic brain injury: an investigation of the cognitive reserve hypothesis. Appl Neuropsychol. 2003;10:153–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Willerman L, Schultz R, Rutledge JN, Bigler ED. In vivo brain size and intelligence. Intelligence. 1991;15:223–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Brown J, Cooper-Kuhn CM, Kemperman G, van Praag H, Winkler J, Gage FH. Enriched environment and physical activity stimulate hippocampal but not olfactory bulb neurogenesis. Eur J Neurosci. 2003;17:2042–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. van Praag H, Shubert T, Zhao C, Gage FH. Exercise enhances learning and hippocampal neurogenesis in aged mice. J Neurosci. 2005;25:8680–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Lazarov O, Robinson J, Tang YP, Hairston IS, Korade-Mirnics Z, Lee VM, et al. Environmental enrichment reduces Abeta levels and amyloid deposition in transgenic mice. Cell. 2005;120(5):701–13.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Manly JJ, Touradji P, Tang MX, Stern Y. Literacy and memory decline among ethnically diverse elders. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2003;25(5):680–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Boyle PA, Wilson RS, Schneider JA, Bienias JL, Bennett DA. Processing resources reduce the effect of Alzheimer pathology on other cognitive systems. Neurology. 2008;70(17):1534–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Stern Y. Cognitive reserve and Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2006;20(3 Suppl 2):S69–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Stern Y, Habeck C, Moeller J, Scarmeas N, Anderson KE, Hilton HJ, et al. Brain networks associated with cognitive reserve in healthy young and old adults. Cereb Cortex. 2005;15(4):394–402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Siedlecki KL, Stern Y, Reuben A, Sacco RL, Elkind MS, Wright CB. Construct validity of cog-nitive reserve in a multiethnic cohort: the Northern Manhattan Study. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2009;15(4):558–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Benedict RH, Morrow SA, Weinstock Guttman B, Cookfair D, Schretlen DJ. Cognitive reserve moderates decline in information processing speed in multiple sclerosis patients. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2010;16(5):829–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Sumowski JF, Chiaravalloti N, Wylie G, Deluca J. Cognitive reserve moderates the negative effect of brain atrophy on cognitive efficiency in multiple sclerosis. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2009;15(4):606–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Sumowski JF, Wylie GR, Deluca J, Chiaravalloti N. Intellectual enrichment is linked to cerebral efficiency in multiple sclerosis: functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for cognitive reserve. Brain. 2010;133(Pt 2):362–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Sumowski JF, Wylie GR, Gonnella A, Chiaravalloti N, Deluca J. Premorbid cognitive leisure independently contributes to cognitive reserve in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2010;75(16):1428–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Smith A. Symbol digit modalities test manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services; 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Cutter GR, Baier ML, Rudick RA, Cookfair DL, Fischer JS, Petkau J, et al. Development of a multiple sclerosis functional composite as a clinical trial outcome measure. Brain. 1999;122(Pt 5):871–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Richards M, Sacker A. Lifetime antecedents of cognitive reserve. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2003;25(5):614–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Valenzuela MJ, Sachdev P. Assessment of complex mental activity across the lifespan: Development of the lifetime of experiences questionnaire (LEQ). Psychol Med. 2007;37(7):1015--25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Hall CB, Lipton RB, Sliwinski M, Katz MJ, Derby CA, Verghese J. Cognitive activities delay onset of memory decline in persons who develop dementia. Neurology. 2009;73(5):356–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Holdnack JA. Wechsler test of adult reading (WTAR) manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Nelson HE. Nelson adult reading test manual. London: The National Hospital for Nervous Disease; 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Wechsler D. WAIS-IV administration and scoring manual. San Antonio, TX: Pearson; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Crawford JR, Parker DM, Stewart LE, Besson JAO, De Lacey G. Prediction of WAIS IQ with the national adult reading test: cross-validation and extension. Br J Psychol. 1989;27:181–2.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Hart S, Smith CM, Swash M. Assessing intellectual deterioration. Br J Clin Psychol. 1986;25:119–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Nelson HE, O’Connell A. Dementia: the estimation of premorbid intelligence levels using the New Adult Reading Test. Cortex. 1978;14(2):234–44.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. O’Carroll RE, Gilleard CJ. Estimation of premorbid intelligence in dementia. Br J Clin Psychol. 1986;25:157–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Sharpe K, O’Carroll RE. Estimating premorbid intellectual level in dementia using the National Adult Reading Test: a Canadian study. Br J Clin Psychol. 1991;30:381–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Jones RN, Manly J, Glymour MM, Rentz DM, Jefferson AL, Stern Y. Conceptual and measurement challenges in research on cognitive reserve. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011;17:1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Satz P, Cole MA, Hardy DJ, Rassovsky Y. Brain and cognitive reserve: mediator(s) and construct validity, a critique. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2011;33(1):121–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Reed BR, Mungas D, Farias ST, Harvey D, Beckett L, Widamen K, et al. Measuring cognitive reserve based on the decomposition of episodic memory variance. Brain. 2010;133(Pt 8):2196--209.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Stern Y, Zarahn E, Habeck C, Holtzer R, Rakitin BC, Kumar A, et al. A common neural network for cognitive reserve in verbal and object working memory in young but not old. Cereb Cortex. 2008;18(4):959–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Del Ser T, Gonzalez-Montalvo JI, Martinez-Espinosa S, Delgado-Villapalos C, Bermejo F. Estimation of premorbid intelligence in Spanish people with the Word Accentuation Test and its application to the diagnosis of dementia. Brain Cogn. 1997;33(3):343–56.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Mackinnon A, Mulligan R. The estimation of premorbid intelligence levels in French speakers. Encéphale. 2005;31(1 Pt 1):31–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Matsuoka K, Uno M, Kasai K, Koyama K, Kim Y. Estimation of premorbid IQ in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease using Japanese ideographic script (Kanji) compound words: Japanese version of National Adult Reading Test. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2006;60(3):332–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Rolstad S, Nordlund A, Gustavsson MH, Eckerstrom C, Klang O, Hansen S, et al. The Swedish National Adult Reading Test (NART-SWE): a test of premorbid IQ. Scand J Psychol. 2008;49(6):577–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Rentz DM, Huh TJ, Sardinha LM, Moran EK, Becker JA, Daffner KR, et al. Intelligence quotient-adjusted memory impairment is associated with abnormal single photon emission computed tomography perfusion. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2007;13(5):821–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Garibotto V, Borroni B, Kalbe E, Herholz K, Salmon E, Holtoff V, et al. Education and occupation as proxies for reserve in aMCI converters and AD: FDG-PET evidence. Neurology. 2008;71(17):1342–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Kemppainen NM, Aalto S, Karrasch M, Nagren K, Savisto N, Oikonen V, et al. Cognitive reserve hypothesis: Pittsburgh Compound B and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in relation to educa-tion in mild Alzheimer’s disease. Ann Neurol. 2008;63(1):112–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Smith CD, Chebrolu H, Wekstein DR, Schmitt FA, Jicha GA, Cooper G, et al. Brain structural alterations before mild cognitive impairment. Neurology. 2007;68(16):1268–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Smith CD, Andersen AH, Kryscio RJ, Schmitt FA, Kindy MS, Blonder LX, et al. Altered brain activation in cognitively intact individuals at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 1999;53(7):1391–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Sperling RA, Dickerson BC, Pihlajamaki M, Vannini P, LaViolette PS, Vitolo OV, et al. Functional alterations in memory networks in early Alzheimer’s disease. Neuromolecular Med. 2010;12(1):27–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Asllani I, Habeck C, Scarmeas N, Borogovac A, Brown TR, Stern Y. Multivariate and univariate analysis of continuous arterial spin labeling perfusion MRI in Alzheimer’s disease. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2008;28(4):725–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Friese U, Meindl T, Herpertz SC, Reiser MF, Hampel H, Teipel SJ. Diagnostic utility of novel MRI-based biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease: diffusion tensor imaging and deformation-based morphometry. J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20(2):477–90.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Hall CB, Derby C, LeValley A, Katz MJ, Verghese J, Lipton RB. Education delays accelerated decline on a memory test in persons who develop dementia. Neurology. 2007;69(17):1657–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. Scarmeas N, Albert SM, Manly JJ, Stern Y. Education and rates of cognitive decline in incident Alzheimer’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006;77(3):308–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Stern Y, Albert S, Tang MX, Tsai WY. Rate of memory decline in AD is related to education and occupation: cognitive reserve? Neurology. 1999;53:1942–57.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Dr. Cosentino’s Beeson Career Development Award in Aging (1K23 AG032899-01) and Dr. Stern’s project, “Imaging of Cognition and Memory” (R01 AG26158).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Neuroscience Division of the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, and Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Stephanie Cosentino Ph.D. & Yaakov Stern Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Stephanie Cosentino Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yaakov Stern Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie Cosentino Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. East 72 Street, STE 500 428, New York, 10021, New York, USA

    Lisa D. Ravdin

  2. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, NW. 14th Street 1120, Miami, 33136, Florida, USA

    Heather L. Katzen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cosentino, S., Stern, Y. (2013). Consideration of Cognitive Reserve. In: Ravdin, L., Katzen, H. (eds) Handbook on the Neuropsychology of Aging and Dementia. Clinical Handbooks in Neuropsychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3106-0_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation