Distinct Effects of Brain Reserve and Cognitive Reserve on the Relationship Between Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy and Memory in Healthy Aging
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2019-07-01
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en
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Abstract
The study at hand further explores the large variability in healthy cognitive aging. It deals with
the effects of brain reserve and cognitive reserve on the relationship between medial temporal
lobe atrophy and memory. This is the first study considering the moderation effects of both
brain reserve and cognitive reserve in a healthy sample. Moreover, we considered different
memory systems. Using MRI and different memory tasks, we investigated whether particularly
cognitive reserve, and not brain reserve, moderated the relationship between medial temporal
lobe atrophy and memory performance. Opposed to the hypothesis, the results showed no
moderation effects of cognitive reserve. Brain reserve moderated the relationship between
medial temporal lobe atrophy and the Doors Test, a visual recognition task that relies on shortterm
memory. Results varied per memory test, indicating different effects for different memory
components. Potential shortcomings of the study, such as the high homogeneity of the sample,
are discussed. It is concluded that the results must be regarded with caution, but that the present
study can give an impulse to conduct further research that includes both brain reserve and
cognitive reserve on healthy samples. As shown by this research, it seems sensible for future
research to subdivide cognitive domains. That informs more exactly about the affected
cognitive components, and, in turn, makes up the clinically and societally relevant information.
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen