Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease

Cognitive impairment is acknowledged as a feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the most common cognitive declines are in executive function (EF) and memory. Cognitive reserve (CR) may offer some protection against cognitive dysfunction in PD. The present study used two proxies of CR (years of ed...

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Main Authors: Loftus, Andrea, Gasson, Natalie, Lopez, Nicole, Sellner, Michelle, Reid, Carly, Cocks, Naomi, Lawrence, Blake
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88169
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author Loftus, Andrea
Gasson, Natalie
Lopez, Nicole
Sellner, Michelle
Reid, Carly
Cocks, Naomi
Lawrence, Blake
author_facet Loftus, Andrea
Gasson, Natalie
Lopez, Nicole
Sellner, Michelle
Reid, Carly
Cocks, Naomi
Lawrence, Blake
author_sort Loftus, Andrea
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Cognitive impairment is acknowledged as a feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the most common cognitive declines are in executive function (EF) and memory. Cognitive reserve (CR) may offer some protection against cognitive dysfunction in PD. The present study used two proxies of CR (years of education, premorbid IQ) to examine the relationship between CR and (i) EF (ii) memory in a large PD sample (n = 334). Two aspects of EF were examined, including verbal fluency and planning skills. Two aspects of verbal memory were examined, including immediate recall and delayed recall. For EF, both CR proxies significantly predicted verbal fluency, but only years of education predicted planning skills. Years of education significantly predicted immediate recall, but premorbid IQ did not. Neither CR proxy predicted delayed recall. These findings suggest that CR, in particular years of education, may contribute to EF and memory function in those with PD. A key finding of this study is the varying contribution of CR proxies to different aspects of the same cognitive domain. The findings indicate that using only one proxy has the potential to be misleading and suggest that when testing the relationship between CR and cognition, studies should include tasks that measure different aspects of the cognitive domain(s) of interest.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-881692022-03-31T05:57:12Z Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease Loftus, Andrea Gasson, Natalie Lopez, Nicole Sellner, Michelle Reid, Carly Cocks, Naomi Lawrence, Blake Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology Parkinson's disease cognition cognitive reserve executive function memory DIAGNOSTIC-CRITERIA IMPAIRMENT PERFORMANCE LIFE DEMENTIA BRAIN Cognitive impairment is acknowledged as a feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the most common cognitive declines are in executive function (EF) and memory. Cognitive reserve (CR) may offer some protection against cognitive dysfunction in PD. The present study used two proxies of CR (years of education, premorbid IQ) to examine the relationship between CR and (i) EF (ii) memory in a large PD sample (n = 334). Two aspects of EF were examined, including verbal fluency and planning skills. Two aspects of verbal memory were examined, including immediate recall and delayed recall. For EF, both CR proxies significantly predicted verbal fluency, but only years of education predicted planning skills. Years of education significantly predicted immediate recall, but premorbid IQ did not. Neither CR proxy predicted delayed recall. These findings suggest that CR, in particular years of education, may contribute to EF and memory function in those with PD. A key finding of this study is the varying contribution of CR proxies to different aspects of the same cognitive domain. The findings indicate that using only one proxy has the potential to be misleading and suggest that when testing the relationship between CR and cognition, studies should include tasks that measure different aspects of the cognitive domain(s) of interest. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88169 10.3390/brainsci11080992 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Neurosciences
Neurosciences & Neurology
Parkinson's disease
cognition
cognitive reserve
executive function
memory
DIAGNOSTIC-CRITERIA
IMPAIRMENT
PERFORMANCE
LIFE
DEMENTIA
BRAIN
Loftus, Andrea
Gasson, Natalie
Lopez, Nicole
Sellner, Michelle
Reid, Carly
Cocks, Naomi
Lawrence, Blake
Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title_full Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title_fullStr Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title_short Cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
title_sort cognitive reserve, executive function, and memory in parkinson’s disease
topic Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Neurosciences
Neurosciences & Neurology
Parkinson's disease
cognition
cognitive reserve
executive function
memory
DIAGNOSTIC-CRITERIA
IMPAIRMENT
PERFORMANCE
LIFE
DEMENTIA
BRAIN
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88169