Leader: Raffaella Rumiati (Sissa); Other collaborator(s):
The construct of cognitive reserve (CR) can account for the divergence between normal and pathological ageing. It hypothesized a partial protection from the deleterious effects of ageing during lifetime. It is operationalized by linking cognitive performance to the influence of variables such as education, premorbid IQ, occupational attainment and quality of living, as predictors, and cognitive performance as the dependent variable. The following research actions are proposed: 1) to explain individual differences not only in ageing but also in other neurological patients whose life expectance is increasing due to improved medicine and better life conditions (e.g. stroke, TBI, brain tumor, MS and PD), 2) to establish whether CR predictive power varies across these different populations and with task difficulty, and 3) to identify the neural mechanisms allowing CR.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
- Recruitment of an RTD-A (December 2023) and a post-hoc (April 2024) to carry on the Cognitive Reserve project from its conceptualization to MS writing.
- Extensive training sessions for three interns and a research assistant with data collection procedures and the administration of experimental tasks.
- The study protocol has been meticulously developed, incorporating a thorough review of the literature, hypotheses, and detailed procedures for the sample, experimental sessions, questionnaires, tests, computerized tasks, software usage, magnetic resonance imaging, and types of behavioral and neural analyses to be performed.
- Three ethics protocols (for SISSA, the hospital, and the Regional Ethics Committee) have been submitted and are awaiting approval.
- A review paper summarizing the existent neuroscientific evidence of cognitive reserve is finished and ready for submission.
- A behavioural study on mental rotation ability was carried out to pilot the task before starting with MR scan. The study has been completed, and data has been analysed.
- Stimuli validation has been completed for two out of the three implemented tasks.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Potential Practical Implications:
- Identify the key determinants of cognitive reserve to facilitate targeted interventions, providing crucial insights for the fields of education, aging, and health.
Potential Policy Implications:
- Establish nutrition initiatives tailored to elderly populations, guaranteeing their access to nutritious and balanced meals.
- Implement prevention programs to mitigate cognitive decline in older adults.
- Implement rehabilitation programs for addressing cognitive decline in older adults with pathological conditions.
- Promote access to cognitive training or encourage lifestyle changes that enhance cognitive reserve and its associated factors.
Potential Industrial Implications:
- Create tools for flexible and daily cognitive training for older adults, such as training applications or devices aimed at enhancing working memory and other cognitive functions.
- Final approval from the three ethics committees (SISSA, the hospital, and the Regional Ethics Committee).
- Attended the Age-IT conference (Venice, 20-22 May 2024).
- Recruited a new trainee (starting 1 November 2024).
- Submitted a review paper on the neural correlates of cognitive reserve: Mauti, M., Monachesi, B., Taccari, G., Rumiati, R.I. (under review). Facing healthy and pathological aging: A systematic review of fMRI task-based studies to understand the neural mechanisms of Cognitive Reserve.
- Implemented the project, which includes a neuropsychological testing phase (1h 30m) and an experimental phase (three computer-based tasks assessing linguistic, memory, and mental rotation abilities, 1h 30m).
- Collection and analysis of behavioural data for N=20 young and N=20 older participants.
- Adaptation of the project to MRI data collection.
- Conceptualization of a new project investigating the role of cognitive reserve in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
- Data collection for the behavioural study, involving 85 participants (40 young adults and 45 older adults), has been completed. The participants attended two experimental sessions each lasting 1.5 hours, spaced one week apart. During the first session, they completed a series of computer-based questionnaires assessing cognitive reserve, general cognitive functioning, personality, emotionality, and lifestyle (e.g., physical activity, diet). In the second session, participants performed three computer-based tasks designed to evaluate cognitive processes such as language, working memory, and mental rotation ability through the respective tasks of fluency, n-back, and mental rotation. These data will likely form the basis of two scientific contributions, which will be drafted and submitted in the coming months.
- First pilot of the fMRI experiment was conducted at the “Cattinara Hospital”, in Trieste. Participants completed the same first session as the behavioural study, which included a 1.5-hour battery of computer-based questionnaires assessing cognitive reserve, general cognitive functioning, personality, emotionality, and lifestyle (e.g., sports, diet). During the second session, participants underwent a MR scan while they performed the simplified version of the cognitive tasks assessing language, working memory, and mental rotation abilities through the fluency, n-back, and mental rotation, respectively. The duration of this session was 1h.
- Study in progress: ‘Integrating Numerical and Cognitive Abilities as Proxies for Cognitive Reserve in the Elderly’. This project investigates the protective effects of mathematics on cognitive reserve by comparing experts (mathematics professors) to non-experts. To date, data has been collected from 20 participants out of a planned total of 70. The study explores how mathematical proficiency influences cognitive function in older adults and examines whether engaging proactively in mathematical tasks can contribute to building cognitive reserve. By understanding these connections, the research aims to inform strategies to enhance cognitive function and support successful aging.
- Review paper in progress: 'Effects on cognitive and brain processes in the treatment of patients with Type 2 Diabetes: traditional vs. modern pharmacological approaches.' This review aims to investigate the effects of traditional and innovative approaches to the treatments of type 2 diabetes. Specifically, it explores the impact of the drug 'Ozempic' and of physical activity on cognitive processes and brain health. The review examines the benefits of these interventions, both individually and in synergy.
- An intern successfully completed her training from October to December 2024. Recruitment for a new intern has been finalized, and she is scheduled to start on January 15, 2025.
- Operationalization of the new project investigating the role of cognitive reserve in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
- The second phase of the study began after the pilot fMRI testing conducted at the Cattinara Hospital, in Trieste (N=23).
- First Session: Participants completed a series of computer-based questionnaires assessing cognitive reserve, general cognitive functioning, personality, emotionality, and lifestyle (e.g., physical activity, diet). This session lasted approximately 1.5 hours.
- Second Session: fMRI experiment conducted at the hospital. Participants underwent MRI scanning while performing a simplified version of cognitive tasks assessing language, working memory, and mental rotation abilities through the fluency, n-back, and mental rotation tasks, respectively. This session lasted approximately 1 hour.
- An intern completed her training from January to April 2025.
- A new pre-doctoral intern has been appointed and will begin on 16 April 2025.
- Meetings to launch two new projects (retrospective and prospective study) in collaboration with the Stroke Unit of the University Medical Hospital of Trieste. These studies investigate the role of cognitive reserve and perfusion CT in predicting cognitive recovery in stroke patients.
- A meeting with the Age-it programme manager Carlos Chiatti was held in SISSA.
Papers and posters in progress
- We are currently preparing a manuscript on working memory and cognitive reserve. The article focuses on the behavioral results of the n-back task in relation to questionnaires on cognitive reserve, emotions and lifestyle. A poster is also being prepared for submission to the second General Meeting of Age-It.
- A second manuscript is in preparation on the role of cognitive reserve in visuospatial ability. This article focuses on behavioral results from the mental rotation task, analyzed in relation to cognitive reserve, emotions, and lifestyle factors. A related poster is being prepared for the Age-It meeting.
- A third manuscript is being developed on the role of cognitive reserve in language abilities. This article focuses on behavioral results from the verbal fluency task and their association with cognitive reserve, emotional state, and lifestyle. A corresponding poster is also planned for submission to the second Age-It General Meeting.
- Preliminary Data analysis of the fMRI study (N=23): Preprocessing pipeline and univariate analyses of the three main tasks.
- Rome, April 7–9, 2025: Conference, “The Age of Rock: Active Ageing, Ageism, and the Fight Against Prejudice.”
- A training for an intern from April 2025.
- Abstract submissions to the Second General Meeting of Age-It (October 29-31, Napoli)
1) Emotional Verbal Fluency Across the Lifespan: The Role of Emotion Suppression and Cognitive Reserve
2) Cognitive Efficiency in Aging: The Synergistic Role of Cognitive Reserve and Emotional Intelligence
3) The role of Aging and Cognitive Reserve in Motor Imagery Ability: Behavioral Insights into Strategy Use
- Abstract submission to the Neuroscience 2025 Conference (November 15–19, San Diego, USA) “How Cognitive Reserve Shapes the Aging Brain: Toward a Neurofunctional profile” ( Bianca Monachesi, Elisabetta Pisanu, Stefania Lucia, Silvia Fornaro, R.I. Rumiati)
- Panel proposal for the Festival of Science – TriesteNEXT: “Invecchiamento Attivo: premere “INVIO” per resilienza”.
- Collaboration with the Stroke Unit of the University Medical Hospital of Trieste: one prospective and one retrospective study investigating the effect of CR on cognitive recovery after stroke.
- Some preliminary fMRI results have been presented during a lab meeting
- Papers in preparation: “Cognitive Reserve and Emotion Suppression shape Verbal Fluency in the first 10-seconds
- performance” (Elisabetta Pisanu, Bianca Monachesi, Stefania Lucia, Silvia Fornaro, R. I. Rumiati); Aging and Cognitive Reserve: evidence from working memory task” (Stefania Lucia, Bianca Monachesi, Elisabetta Pisanu, Silvia Fornaro, R. I. Rumiati)
- Publication of the preprint: Lunardon, M., Cerni, T., Zanon, M., & Rumiati, R. I. (2024). Physiological correlates of numeracy in higher education. PsyArXiv https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/adnw9
- ‘Intelligenza e Riserva Cognitiva’ talk at the conference called ‘Dal Paleolitico all’intelligenza artificiale: leggere il futuro attraverso il passato’, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", December 6th, 2024.
- Mauti, M., Monachesi, B., Taccari, G., & Rumiati, R. I. (2024). Facing healthy and pathological aging: A systematic review of fMRI task-based studies to understand the neural mechanisms of cognitive reserve. Brain and Cognition, 182, 106238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106238
- Lunardon, M., Cerni, T., Zanon, M., & Rumiati, R. I. (2024). Physiological correlates of numeracy in higher education. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, PsyArXiv https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/adnw9 (under review).