Abstract:
Cognitively stimulating environments are thought to be protective of cognitive decline and onset of Alzheimer\'s disease and related dementias (ADRD) through the development of cognitive reserve (CR). CR refers to cognitive adaptability that buffers the impact of brain pathology on cognitive function. Despite the critical need to identify cognitively stimulating environments to build CR, there is no consensus regarding which environmental determinants are most effective. Rather, most studies use education as proxies for CR and little is known about the association between older adults\' personal social networks and CR. Using neuroimaging data from 135 older adults participating in the Social Networks in Alzheimer Disease (SNAD) study, this article adopted a residual method for measuring CR and found that large network size, high network diversity, and loosely connected networks were positively associated with greater CR. These results suggest that expansive social networks in later life may constitute cognitively stimulating environments which can be leveraged to build CR and reduce the burden of ADRD.
摘要:
认知刺激环境被认为是通过认知储备(CR)的发展保护认知衰退和阿尔茨海默病和相关痴呆(ADRD)的发作。CR是指缓冲脑病理对认知功能的影响的认知适应性。尽管迫切需要确定认知刺激环境来构建CR,关于哪些环境决定因素最有效,尚无共识。相反,大多数研究将教育作为CR的代理,而对老年人个人社交网络与CR之间的关联知之甚少。使用来自参与阿尔茨海默病社会网络(SNAD)研究的135名老年人的神经影像学数据,本文采用残差法测量CR,发现网络规模较大,网络多样性高,松散连接的网络与较高的CR呈正相关。这些结果表明,以后生活中广泛的社交网络可能构成认知刺激环境,可以利用这些环境来建立CR并减轻ADRD的负担。