Reserve, Resilience and Maintenance of Episodic Memory and Other Cognitive Functions in Aging

We tested if cognitive and brain reserve and maintenance explain individual differences in episodic memory and other cognitive domains from late middle to early older adulthood. We used The Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging data (n=1,604 men) with episodic memory measured at mean ages of 56, 62 and 68 years, and magnetic resonance imaging data for a subsample of participants (n=321). Cognitive reserve —young adult general cognitive ability at a mean age of 20 years and, to a lesser degree, educational attainment— was positively related to episodic memory performance at each assessment, but not to memory change. We found no evidence for the associations of brain reserve or brain maintenance on memory change. Results were highly similar when looking at processing speed, executive function and verbal fluency. In conclusion, higher young adult cognitive reserve was related to better episodic memory in midlife and older adulthood, but it did not confer better cognitive maintenance with respect to memory. This supports the importance of early cognitive development in dementia prevention.