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Maintenance, reserve and compensation: the cognitive neuroscience of healthy ageing

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 19, pages 701–710 (2018)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 07 November 2018

A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 07 November 2018

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Abstract

Cognitive ageing research examines the cognitive abilities that are preserved and/or those that decline with advanced age. There is great individual variability in cognitive ageing trajectories. Some older adults show little decline in cognitive ability compared with young adults and are thus termed ‘optimally ageing’. By contrast, others exhibit substantial cognitive decline and may develop dementia. Human neuroimaging research has led to a number of important advances in our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying these two outcomes. However, interpreting the age-related changes and differences in brain structure, activation and functional connectivity that this research reveals is an ongoing challenge. Ambiguous terminology is a major source of difficulty in this venture. Three terms in particular — compensation, maintenance and reserve — have been used in a number of different ways, and researchers continue to disagree about the kinds of evidence or patterns of results that are required to interpret findings related to these concepts. As such inconsistencies can impede progress in both theoretical and empirical research, here, we aim to clarify and propose consensual definitions of these terms.

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Fig. 1: Similarities and differences between reserve, maintenance and compensation.
Fig. 2: Stable cognitive performance is associated with brain maintenance.
Fig. 3: Compensation mechanisms: upregulation, selection and reorganization.

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Change history

  • 07 November 2018

    In the originally published version of article, there were two errors in the references. The reference “Nilsson, J. & Lövdén, M. Naming is not explaining: future directions for the “cognitive reserve” and “brain maintenance” theories. Alzheimer’s Res. Ther. 10, 34 (2018)” was missing. This reference has been added as REF. 14 in the HTML and PDF versions of the article and cited at the end of the sentence “However, over the years, these terms have been used inconsistently, creating confusion and slowing progress.” on page 701 and at the end of the sentence “If reserve is defined merely as the factor that individuals with greater reserve have and then this factor is used to explain why some individuals have greater reserve, the argument is clearly circular.” on page 704. The reference list has been renumbered accordingly. In addition, in the original reference list, REF. 91 was incorrect. The reference should have read “Cabeza, R. Hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults. The HAROLD model. Psychol. Aging 17, 85–100 (2002)”. This reference, which is REF. 92 in the corrected reference list, has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript presents a summary of discussions from a 2-day symposium held at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, from 31 May–2 June 2017, which was funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Planning and Dissemination Grant 373172 awarded to M.N.R. and R.C. and by institutional funds from Duke University (North Carolina, USA) and the Douglas Hospital Research Centre (Montreal, Canada). R.C. is supported by a grant from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH; RO1-AG19731). M.A. is supported by a grant from the NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA; P50-AG005146). S.B. is supported by a grant from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; RGPIN-2016-06132). F.I.M.C. is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC; A8261). A.D. is supported by a grant from NIH (R56-AG049793). C.L.G. is supported by a grant from CIHR (MOP-143311). U.L. is supported by the Max Planck Society. L.N. is support by a scholar grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. D.C.P. is supported by a grant from the NIH (R01-AG006265). P.A.R.-L. is supported by a grant from the NIH (R21-AG045460). M.D.R. is supported by a grant from the NIH (RF1-AG039103). M.N.R. is supported by grants from CIHR (MOP 126105) and NSERC (RGPIN-2018-05761).

Reviewer information

Nature Reviews Neuroscience thanks C. Brayne, R. Dixon, W. Jagust and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Roberto Cabeza

  2. Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Marilyn Albert

  3. Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Sylvie Belleville

  4. Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Fergus I. M. Craik & Cheryl L. Grady

  5. School of Psychology, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Audrey Duarte

  6. Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany

    Ulman Lindenberger

  7. Departments of Radiation Sciences and Integrated Medical Biology, UFBI, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Lars Nyberg

  8. Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas, Dallas, TX, USA

    Denise C. Park & Michael D. Rugg

  9. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz

  10. Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottowa, Ontario, Canada

    Jason Steffener

  11. Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, McGill University and Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    M. Natasha Rajah

Authors
  1. Roberto Cabeza
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  2. Marilyn Albert
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  3. Sylvie Belleville
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  4. Fergus I. M. Craik
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  5. Audrey Duarte
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  6. Cheryl L. Grady
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  7. Ulman Lindenberger
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  8. Lars Nyberg
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  9. Denise C. Park
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  10. Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz
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  11. Michael D. Rugg
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  12. Jason Steffener
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  13. M. Natasha Rajah
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Contributions

R.C., M.A., S.B., F.I.M.C., A.D., C.L.G., U.L., L.N., D.C.P., P.A.R.-L., M.D.R., J.S. and M.N.R. researched data for the article, made a substantial contribution to the discussion of content, wrote the article and reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto Cabeza.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cabeza, R., Albert, M., Belleville, S. et al. Maintenance, reserve and compensation: the cognitive neuroscience of healthy ageing. Nat Rev Neurosci 19, 701–710 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-018-0068-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-018-0068-2

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