title: Sending your grandparents to university increases cognitive reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.
abstract: Increasing an individual's level of cognitive reserve (CR) has been suggested as a nonpharmacological approach to reducing the risk for Alzheimer's disease. We examined changes in CR in older adults participating over 4 years in the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.
  
  
  
  A sample of 459 healthy older adults between 50 and 79 years of age underwent a comprehensive annual assessment of current CR, neuropsychological function, and psychosocial factors over a 4-year period. The intervention group of 359 older adults (M = 59.61 years, SD = 6.67) having completed a minimum of 12 months part-time university study were compared against a control reference group of 100 adults (M = 62.49 years, SD = 6.24) who did not engage in further education.
  
  
  
  Growth mixture modeling demonstrated that 44.3% of the control sample showed no change in CR, whereas 92.5% of the further education participants displayed a significant linear increase in CR over the 4 years of the study. These results indicate that older adults engaging in high-level mental stimulation display an increase in CR over a 4-year period.
  
  
  
  Increasing mental activity in older adulthood may be a viable strategy to improve cognitive function and offset cognitive decline associated with normal aging. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Lenehan
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast.
authors.forename: Mathew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.affiliation: Wicking Dementia Research & Education Centre, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.
authors.forename: Nichole L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine (Psychology), University of Tasmania.
authors.forename: Jeffery J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.affiliation: Wicking Dementia Research & Education Centre, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.affiliation: U1061 Neuropsychiatry, INSERM.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vickers
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000517:prevention & control*; D058245:Cognitive Reserve / Q000502:physiology*; D004493:Education / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013648:Tasmania; D014495:Universities