According to a recent study from Karolinska Institutet published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, mentally stimulating activities and life experiences can improve cognition in memory clinic patients. However, stress has been found to undermine this beneficial relationship. Researchers discovered in the late 1980s that some individuals who exhibited no signs of dementia during their lifetime experienced improvements in cognition and memory clinic patients, but stress can impede this progress.
evidence suggests that individuals with higher cognitive reserve may have better protection against the development of Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with lower cognitive reserve. This suggests that engaging in mentally stimulating activities and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help build cognitive reserve, providing a protective effect against the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, high stress levels and a lack of social interaction and engaging activities may increase the risk of developing dementia. Therefore, it is important to focus on building cognitive reserve through positive lifestyle choices and activities.Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated the connection between cognitive reserve, cognition, and Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in 113 patients from the memory clinic at the Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Sweden. They also studied how this connection is influenced by physiological stress (measured through cortisol levels in saliva) and psychological stress.
The study found that greater cognitive reserve enhanced cognition, but surprisingly, physiological stress seemed to diminish this connection.
“These findings could have important implications for clinical practice, as there is a growing body of evidence supporting the idea that mindfulness exercises” The study’s lead author, Manasa Shanta Yerramalla, a researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, suggests that meditation may lower cortisol levels and enhance cognition. She also recommends that incorporating different stress management techniques into current lifestyle interventions could be beneficial for preventing Alzheimer’s. The study had a relatively small sample size, which limits the ability to make strong conclusions, but the results can be applied to similar patient groups. The researchers also took into account the impact of sleep disruption on cognition by controlling for sleeping medications.t is important to consider other factors related to sleep that could impact cognitive function,” Dr. Yerramalla states, as she discusses the ongoing research on the connection between stress, sleep disorders, and cognitive reserve in patients at the memory clinic.
