Photo Credit: Nuthawut Somsuk

The following is a summary of “Mid- and late-life lifestyle activities as main drivers of general and domain-specific cognitive reserve in individuals with Parkinson’s disease: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the LANDSCAPE study,” published in the July 2024 issue of Neurology by Ophey et al.

Individuals with higher Cognitive reserve (CR) may show slower cognitive decline despite similar levels of brain degeneration in diseases like Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to explore how CR at different life stages affects overall and specific cognitive functions in PD, examining data at a single point in time and over time.

They involved 81 participants from PD-N and 87 PD-MCI from the DEMPARK/LANDSCAPE study, with a 4-year longitudinal follow-up comprising more than 500 observations. The CR was measured using the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ), assessing lifestyle complexity across different life stages, while cognition was evaluated with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery.

The results showed that higher LEQ scores, mainly from mid- and late-life, were observed in PD-N compared to PD-MCI [F(1,153) = 4.609, P=.033, ηp² = 0.029], with significant associations noted for better cognitive performance (0.200 ≤ β ≤ 0.292). Longitudinally, linear mixed effect models (0.236 ≤ marginal R² ≤ 0.441) indicated positive relationships between LEQ scores and cognitive performance over time, albeit with a slightly more pronounced decline in overall cognition and memory.

Investigators concluded that complex lifestyle activities were linked to better cognition in PD. While higher CR may initially delay cognitive decline, it could also lead to a sharper drop in overall memory and function later on.

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-024-12484-0