Effect of Cognitive Reserve on Age at Symptom Onset and Cognitive Decline in Individuals With Dominantly Inherited...

Cognitive reserve has been shown to modulate the onset and progression of Alzheimer disease (AD) symptoms. Although its role in sporadic AD is well-studied, how cognitive reserve influences the timing and progression of symptoms in dominantly inherited AD (DIAD) remains unclear. This study aimed to quantify cognitive reserve in DIAD carriers and test whether higher cognitive reserve is associated with later symptom onset and slower functional decline.

We analyzed data from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network study. Cognitive reserve was modeled using a residual-based latent variable approach, decomposing cognitive performance into demographic (CogD), biomarker (CogB), and reserve or residual (CogR) components. Primary outcomes were age at clinical symptom onset (CDR >0) and longitudinal change in the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes (CDR-SBs). Data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models and linear mixed-effects models, adjusting for estimated years from onset (EYO).

A total of 710 Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) participants were included in the analysis, comprising 271 non-DIAD carriers (nMC), 284 asymptomatic DIAD carriers (aMC), and 155 symptomatic DIAD carriers. In asymptomatic carriers, using a zero-inflation model adjusted for EYO showed that a 1 SD increase in the reserve component (CogR) was associated with a 4.06-fold increase in the odds of being clinically unimpaired (CDR-SB = 0; 95% CI 1.84-8.95). Similarly, a 1 SD increase in the demographic (CogD) and biomarker (CogB) components increased the odds of being CDR-SB = 0 by 2.60 (95% CI 1.10-6.16) and 5.16 (95% CI 2.00-13.33), respectively. Among symptomatic carriers, only the reserve and the biomarker components were significant. A 1 SD increase in CogR was associated with a 0.81-fold reduction in baseline CDR-SB score (95% CI 0.72-0.92), and a 1 SD increase in CogB was associated with a 0.60-fold reduction in CDR-SB (95% CI 0.50-0.71).

Our findings indicate that higher cognitive reserve values are associated with delayed conversion to mild cognitive impairment and slower progression on clinical dementia rating scales. These findings suggest that cognitive reserve plays a protective role in modifying the clinical trajectory of genetically determined AD.