health
B R A I N H E A LT H
3 Ways to Increase Your Cognitive Reserve by Karen D. Sullivan, PhD, ABPP
C
ognitive reserve is an important multi-dimensional concept that is beneficial to understand for preserving the health of your brain for as long as possible. It provides the best chance for fighting back against normal brain aging and ageassociated brain disorders, like dementia. Cognitive reserve is an evidence-based idea proposed by Columbia University neuropsychologist Dr. Yaakov Stern in the mid 1990s. It was inspired by a series of autopsy studies that revealed advanced pathological symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) in the brains of some subjects who did not show symptoms of the disease in real life. Researchers initially thought this was due to a type of physical brain reserve after realizing that the people had larger brains than their counterparts. This was based on the assumption that they had more brain cells to lose and could, therefore, tolerate more brain disease before they showed the effects in life. Stern agreed with the study findings but took his explanation to the next level when he stated that the real contribution was a process of active compensation due to stronger brain cell connections. He called his theory cognitive reserve. Stern and other brain researchers spent the last few decades studying what life experiences make the biggest contributions to cognitive reserve. Some highlights of their findings include: • It’s all about an enriched environment. The most important thing to understand about cognitive reserve is that it is a result of many types of brain-friendly activities, including physical activity, new and complex learning, social interaction and diet. Relying on one intervention for brain health, like one brain game or a single supplement, is one of the fundamental errors of the majority of brain health products on the market today. Science tells us that healthy brains result from enrichment in all aspects of health. Enriched environments are defined as those offering increased opportunities for physical activity, learning, and social interaction. It is thought that these experiences encourage the growth of new brain cells and their connections, a process called neurogenesis, that allows for multiple “back up” systems for thinking, problemsolving and memory. • The almighty exercise: The influence of aerobic exercise on cognitive reserve is impressive. Cardiovascular fitness is associated with lower rates of age-related decline in brain volume, particularly in the gray matter of the brain. In one study of cognitively normal older adults, those who exercised three or more times per week were more likely to not develop dementia during the next six years, independent of other risk factors for dementia. Walking more than 72 blocks (3.6 miles) per week was the minimum determined for safeguard against age-related brain changes in another study. 16
OutreachNC.com | OCTOBER 2017