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An international evaluation of cognitive reserve and memory changes in early old age in ten European countries

Cadar, D; Robitaille, A; Clouston, S; Hofer, SM; Piccinin, AM; Muniz-Terrera, G; (2017) An international evaluation of cognitive reserve and memory changes in early old age in ten European countries. Neuroepidemiology , 48 (1-2) pp. 9-20. 10.1159/000452276. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cognitive reserve was postulated to explain individual differences in susceptibility to ageing, offering apparent protection to those with higher education. We investigated the association between education and change in memory in early old age. METHODS: Immediate and delayed memory scores from over 10,000 individuals aged 65 years and older, from 10 countries of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), were modeled as a function of time in the study over an 8-year period, fitting independent latent growth models (LGM). Education was used as a marker of cognitive reserve and evaluated in associations with memory performance and rate of change, while accounting for income, general health, smoking, body mass index (BMI), sex and baseline age. RESULTS: In most countries, more educated individuals performed better on both memory tests at baseline, compared to those less educated. However, education was not protective against faster decline, except for in Spain for both immediate and delayed recall (0.007 (SE=0.003) & 0.006 (SE=0.002), and Switzerland for immediate recall 0.006 (SE=0.003). Interestingly, highly educated Italian respondents had slightly faster declines in immediate recall (-0.006 (SE=0.003)). CONCLUSIONS: We found weak evidence of a protective effect of education on memory change in most European samples, although there was a positive association with memory performance at individuals' baseline assessment.

Type: Article
Title: An international evaluation of cognitive reserve and memory changes in early old age in ten European countries
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1159/000452276
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1159/000452276
Language: English
Additional information: © 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY) (http://www.karger.com/Services/OpenAccessLicense). Usage, derivative works and distribution are permitted provided that proper credit is given to the author and the original publisher.
Keywords: Cognitive reserve, Memory, Education, Older adults, Latent Growth Curve Model
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1528612
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