REVIEW  DEMENTIA PREVENTION: UPDATES AND NEW CHALLENGES 

Minerva Medica 2021 August;112(4):441-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4806.21.07448-6

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Cognitive reserve and Alzheimer’s biological continuum: clues for prediction and prevention of dementia

Alessandro MARTORANA ¹ ✉, Martina ASSOGNA ^{1, 2}, Vincenzo DE LUCIA ¹, Caterina MOTTA ², Chiara G. BONOMI ¹,
Francesca BERNOCCHI ¹, Martina G. DI DONNA ¹, Giacomo KOCH ^{2, 3}

¹ Memory Clinic, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy; ² Unit of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation, IRCCS Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy; ³ Human Physiology Unit, Department of Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Cognitive reserve is originally an epidemiological concept that encompasses individual abilities to cope with changes. It is considered the result of a balance between processes of cellular damage and repair, and its description raised much interest in predicting and preventing cognitive decline in aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this study, we discussed the concept of cognitive reserve considering the recent definition of AD as a biological continuum and suggest that the protection of cognitive reserve may result from efficient synaptic plasticity mechanisms. Despite pathological changes of AD appearing very early during life, long before the onset of cognitive symptoms, different variables act together to keep repair mechanisms effective guaranteeing successful aging if environmental enrichment is maintained.

KEY WORDS: Alzheimer disease; Cognitive reserve; Amyloid beta-peptides; Tau proteins