A detailed lifespan perspective
In the near future, our aging societies will have to face a dramatic increase in the number of dementia cases and thereby diminished well-being in advanced age. Addressing this crucial public health challenge, the cognitive reserve concept postulates that early and lifelong experiences, including educational and occupational attainment, and leisure activities throughout the lifespan, contribute to the accumulation of cognitive reserve that determines individuals’ capacity to cope with cognitive pathologies in subsequent life phases. Yet, research addressing inter-individual characteristics and factors that modulate cognitive reserve accumulation pathways and their specific role for dealing with pathological cognitive development is still in its infancy.
Therefore, the present innovative interdisciplinary project will bring together cognitive reserve and lifespan research concepts and methods to understand in depth how contextual factors and major life events emerging shape individuals’ pathways of cognitive reserve accumulation across the lifespan (based on detailed retrospective life history data), and the specific role of these modulation mechanisms for individuals’ capacity to deal with pathological cognitive development in later life (taking into account a variety of longitudinal pathology and brain data, also considering preclinical states) and for trajectories in related outcomes such as well-being during this pathological stage. Thereby, in three subprojects we will exploit available large-scale longitudinal interdisciplinary datasets using advanced modeling techniques, such as sequence analyses, growth curve models, mixed-effects models, joint models, and dynamic structural equation modeling approaches:
- In subproject A we will investigate how contextual factors (such as demographic, economic, and societal characteristics of the surrounding environments in which individuals grew up and spent their adulthood) influence in detail the pathways of cognitive reserve accumulation and how this finally affects individuals’ capacity to deal with pathological cognitive development in later life. A special focus will be given on differential effects depending on the contextual level (country versus federal state / region versus neighborhood) and the specific life phase in which the respective environments affect individuals’ trajectories (childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, midlife, late and very late adulthood).
- In subproject B we will examine how major life events in individuals’ lives influence the pathways of cognitive reserve accumulation and how this finally affects individuals’ capacity to deal with pathological cognitive development in later life. A detailed focus will be taken on differential effects depending on the type of event (positive versus negative) and the specific life phase in which the respective event periods affect individuals’ trajectories.
- In subproject C we will investigate how the modulations of cognitive reserve accumulation pathways determine the trajectories in related outcomes such as well-being when facing pathological cognitive development in later life. A particular focus will be given on differential effects depending on the contextual level, the type of event, and the specific life phase in which the respective environments and the respective event periods affect individuals’ trajectories.
The present interdisciplinary proposal has huge conceptual significance as it will help to conceptualize lifespan models of cognitive reserve in particular and gerontological research in general. Moreover, it will contribute to social prevention policies and may lay the ground for designing evidence-based intervention programs for our aging societies.
Important link
Project page on the SNSF website
