Alzheimer Disease and Cognitive Reserve

Abstract
The cognitive reserve hypothesis states that persons with greater cognitive reserve are able to withstand more Alzheimer disease (AD) pathological burden without becoming demented by using cognitive processing approaches or compensatory brain networks.1,2 Education is a commonly used proxy of cognitive reserve. Adjusting for level of AD pathological burden determined at autopsy, greater education has been associated with better cognitive function during life.3,4 Education interacts with AD pathological burden such that a greater pathological burden is required to show an effect on cognition among persons with more education.3,4