If two people suffered similar strokes , it would seem logical to think that the effects on their mental functions would be similarly serious. However, it’s not always like that. Some people seem to have more brain protection than others from brain disease. What does that depend on? Well, among other things, of our ‘cognitive reserve’.
The reserve hypothesis proposes that at higher levels of brain reserve (better conservation of brain structures) and cognitive reserve (previous mental abilities, intelligence and use of strategies),the better will be the functioning of capacities such as memory or attention in a situation of brain pathology.The cognitive reserve has thus been described as a buffer against the effects of brain damage and even as a preventive factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
The most recent discoveries point to the idea that a good cognitive reserve is important not only in the face of old age or when a process of dementia is established. It seems that already in middle age it has a fundamental role in the relationship between cognition and the structure of thebrain. This is how the scientific journal published this yearNeuropsychologia. The study, conducted by a team from the University of La Jolla, in San Diego, California, shows that the relationship between performance on a memory test and the size of the hippocampus is mediated by this concept called ‘cognitive reserve’.
ThehippocampusIt is a seahorse-shaped structure located inside the brain, on the medial aspect of the temporal lobes, which is essential for learning and memory. It is known that people who have less hippocampal volume have a worse performance in episodic memory tasks, such as remembering a text they have. What the researchers from the University of La Jolla suggested was that those participants who had lower hippocampal volume would also have a lower score on memory tests but only when their level of cognitive reserve was also lower.
Cognitive reserve was measured through tests ofvocabulary, arithmetic, reasoning and visuospatial skillswhen the 494 males were an average of 20 years of age. Later, when the participants were already in their fifties, they measured the size of the hippocampus with magnetic resonance images and applied neuropsychological tests to assess memory.
What they found was surprising. Those who had higher cognitive reserve, that is, better general cognitive functioning in their 20s, also had better memory in middle age. But more relevant is that they found a significant interaction between general mental ability in their 20s and the size of the hippocampus in their 50s. Thus, only participants who had lower levels of general cognitive performance at age 20 showed memory failures as a result of the smaller size of the hippocampus.
This discovery supports the need to keep our brains in shape early in life, because cultivating our abilities today can protect us from the future decline in our cognitive abilities that occurs when our brains get older or are affected by certain diseases. Cultivating memory, attention, calculation, our perceptual abilities, etc., with specific and fun training programs is the best option, although we can always accompany it with more traditional hobbies or activities such as reading. The key is to keep our minds active.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain
