Yaakov Stern: Cognitive Reserve and Individual Differences in Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Risk

Some elderly individuals remain cognitively ‘sharp as a tack’ despite the accumulation of large amounts of amyloid in their brains, whereas others exhibit profound cognitive impairment with less amyloid pathology.  In this episode Columbia University Professor Yaakov Stern talks about the concepts of ‘cognitive reserve’ and ‘brain maintenance’ and how he and others have elucidated factors that explain individual differences in cognitive trajectories during aging. The data show that regular exercise and intellectually challenging endeavors promote successful brain aging in the absence or presence of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. We also discuss neural mechanisms that may explain cognitive reserve and brain maintenance during aging. 

LINKS:

Professor Stern’s webpage at Columbia University:

https://www.neurology.columbia.edu/profile/yaakov-stern-phd

Review articles on cognitive reserve and brain maintenance:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3507991/pdf/nihms416640.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8517622/pdf/acab049.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6859943/pdf/nihms-1530897.pdf