Understanding Neurological Reserve to Improve Brain Health and Well-Being

In this episode of The Well Nurtured Brain, Dr. Pamela Hutchison guides listeners on an exploration of Neurological Reserve, as she shares inspiring details from the Nun Study, including an 85 year-old sister who remained cognitively normal despite having significant Alzheimer disease pathology in her brain.

Neurological Reserve is the capacity of the brain to handle various metabolic and physiological stressors. It is important because it helps the brain resist, respond to and recover from injury, stress, aging, illness, and other metabolic challenges. Having a high level of neurological reserve can help someone recover faster from a concussion and can help them maintain physical and cognitive abilities for longer in their life, even if they have a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have learned about this from the Nun Study, where some nuns maintained good brain function in old age despite having the pathology associated with Alzheimer's. In future episodes, we will explore how to support these reserves so that we can all live long and healthy lives.

We need a good brain to enjoy all the things that we love and to make life meaningful as long as possible.

We’ll discuss:
1. The concept of neurological reserve, which is the capacity of the brain to handle various metabolic and physiological stressors. 

2. How having a high level of neurological reserve can help the brain to better resist, respond, and recover from injury, stress, aging, illness, and other metabolic challenges. 

3. The Nun study, which is a longitudinal study of Catholic sisters conducted to better understand brain health and its relation to a long and healthy lifespan. 

Resources:

Snowdon DA; Nun Study. Healthy aging and dementia: findings from the Nun Study. Ann Intern Med. 2003 Sep 2;139(5 Pt 2):450-4. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-139-5_part_2-200309021-00014. PMID: 12965975.
David Snowdon’s book: “Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives” https://www.amazon.ca/Aging-Grace-Teaches-Healthier-Meaningful/dp/0553380923

Quotes:

"We need a good brain to enjoy all the things that we love and to make life meaningful as long as possible."

"If we don't have resilient and resistant brains, aging may eventually result in the loss of our abilities to do things long before we actually expire."