BRAIN RESERVE IN OLDER ADULTS WITH TYPICAL COGNITION AND SUPER-AGERS: RESULTS FROM KBASE

• Grant number: 25/06232-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Preventive Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Natalia Gomes Gonçalves
• Grantee: André Benedito da Costa
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2022, more than 32 million Brazilians were over 60 years old. It is estimated that by 2070, approximately 40% of the Brazilian population will fall into this age group. With the accelerated population aging, an increase in the prevalence of dementia syndromes is expectedin Brazil and worldwide. The literature presents the concepts of brain and cognitive reserve, which describe certain individuals' resistance to clinical manifestations of cognitive decline despite pre-existing brain damage, providing a valuable sample for understanding resilience to neurodegeneration. However, most studies on these concepts have been conducted in high-income countries in North America and Europe, with predominantly White and Western samples. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate brain reserve in super-agers (individuals over 75 years old with cognitive performance superior to that expected for their age) compared to older adults with typical cognition in a South Korean sample from the Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease (KBASE). Participants will be classified into two groups based on their cognitive performance and assessed regarding intracranial volume and cerebral parenchymal fraction, biomarkers obtained through magnetic resonance imaging, and considered as markers of brain reserve. Multinomial regression models adjusted for age, sex, and education will be used to evaluate the association between brain reserve and cognition in these groups. It is expected that the results of this study will allow for the generalization of previous literature findings to more diverse populations, contributing to dementia prevention policies and to the understanding of its mechanisms, ultimately supporting healthy aging. (AU)