The Role of Cognitive Reserve in Predicting Cognitive Efficiency

Abstract

Objectives. The objective of the study is to assess cognitive reserve and to investigate the role of age and educational instruction level in cognitive efficiency. Material and methods. All 146 participants, 105 women (72%), 41 men (28%), aged 60-96 years (M = 74.61, SD = 7.12), with primary to postgraduate studies (M = 3.08, SD = 1.54) completed the following test battery: questionnaire "Cognitive Reserve Index" (R-IRCq), Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Status-2 (MMSE-2) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results. The educational level as well as the total cognitive reserve index are significant predictors of cognitive efficiency measures. Age and total R-IRCq score cover 32% of MoCA variance. Age and educational level cover 36% of the MoCA variance (adjusted R² = 0.36, F(2.143) = 42.05, p < .001), age (B = - 0.08, β = - 0.27, t = - 3.77) and educational level (B = 0.62, β = 0.43, t = 5.90). Conclusions. An inverse correlation between age and cognitive efficiency has been identified: the older the age of participants, the lower the cognitive efficiency, the stronger the correlation when evaluated by MoCA. Both educational levels and total R-IRCq index partially mediated the effect of age on cognitive performance (MoCA). The assessment of cognitive reserve in older people could be a useful additional measure to integrate existing protocols for the neuropsychological assessment of cognitive decline. Cognitive reserve should also be recognized as a factor, which will influence the rate of cognitive decline after diagnosis. Keywords: MMSE-2, MoCA, cognitive reserve, education, cognitive decline.