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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Issue Date
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