The moderating role of cognitive reserve on relations between health conditions and cognitive functioning

It has been well established that older adults often exhibit deficits in cognitive functions, which may stem from or be exacerbated by different health conditions, including traumatic brain injuries, cancer treatments, or cardiac events. This project will therefore examine relations between various health conditions and cognitive functioning among older adults, and evaluate whether certain factors (e.g., social support, leisure activities, education level, etc.) may act in a protective capacity to help confer resilience to cognitive impairments.

We found that a subset of people who have experienced a traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness show long-term global cognitive impairment, which is buffered by high levels of social support. People with a history of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showed lower cognitive performance than controls without PTSD, and greater social support was associated with higher cognitive function in controls but not people with PTSD. These findings have implications for the assessment and treatment of people with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. The finding that social support was not associated with preserved cognition in PTSD was unexpected and indicates the complexity of designing interventions for this population.