title: What do parents have to do with my cognitive reserve? Life course perspectives on twelve-year cognitive decline.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the cognitive reserve hypothesis by comparing the contribution of early childhood and life course factors related to cognitive functioning in a nationally representative sample of older Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined a prospective, national probability cohort study (Health and Retirement Study; 1998-2010) of older adults (n=8,833) in the contiguous 48 United States. The main cognitive functioning outcome was a 35-point composite of memory (recall), mental status, and working memory tests. The main predictors were childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) and health, and individual-level adult achievement and health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individual-level achievement indicators (i.e., education, income, and wealth) were positively and significantly associated with baseline cognitive function, while adult health was negatively associated with cognitive function. Controlling for individual-level adult achievement and other model covariates, childhood health presented a relatively small negative, but statistically significant association with initial cognitive function. Neither individual achievement nor childhood SEP was statistically linked to decline over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cognitive reserve purportedly acquired through learning and mental stimulation across the life course was associated with higher initial global cognitive functioning over the 12-year period in this nationally representative study of older Americans. We found little supporting evidence that childhood economic conditions were negatively associated with cognitive function and change, particularly when individual-level achievement is considered.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Gerontology, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. hmgonzalez@med.wayne.edu
authors.forename: Hector M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Wassim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tarraf
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.forename: Michelle D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Johnson-Jennings
authors.forename: Gwenith G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058245:Cognitive Reserve; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology