Resting-state electroencephalographic correlates of cognitive reserve: Moderating the age-related worsening in cognitive function

Abstract

Measurement of cognitive reserve (CR) is a matter of constant reviews and developments due to the difficulty to assess it directly, being socio-behavioral indexes used as indirect proxies. An effort to unravel the neural correlates underlying CR seems mandatory, and strongly supported by the neuroscientific literature. Neurophysiological measures through electroencephalography (EEG) have proven to be a promising, almost inexpensive method to study the CR neural correlates. In line with the recommendations of Stern et al. (2020), the aim of the present study has been to demonstrate that resting-state EEG measures may moderate the relationship between age-related brain changes and cognitive status; thus, constituting an objective neural index of CR.Our results show that two resting-state EEG measures, delta current source density in the occipital region and beta 2 connectivity between limbic and occipital regions in the right hemisphere, moderate the relation between age and cognitive performance, indexing neuroprotective effects on cognition during the aging process. These results not only shed light on the neural mechanisms involved in CR but also allow us to propose features to be taken into account in order to enhance the results of interventions to delay the onset of cognitive deficits.

Resting-state electroencephalographic correlates of cognitive reserve: Moderating the age-related worsening in cognitive function

“…We also thank Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Famalicão, Associação Gerações, Café Memoria-Braga, and C. S. Vale do Homen, for their help in participants recruitment; and all those that volunteered for their participation. An online version of this study has been published as a preprint in the PsyArXiv Preprints (Bujan et al, 2022). frontiersin.org Buján et al 10.3389/fnagi.2022.854928…”