Researchers at the Columbia University Medical Center have demonstrated a brain network within our frontal lobes that is associated with “cognitive reserve,” that ability of the brain to maintain a reserve of processing power despite brain attrition through aging and disease.

“With the identification of this brain network – located within the frontal lobe – that is active during the performance both of these verbal and spatial tasks and probably other types of tasks as well, we believe we have accomplished an important first step towards improving our understanding of how cognitive reserve is expressed within the brain,” said Dr. Stern, who is a professor of clinical neuropsychology in the Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Psychology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Furtherance of such understanding offers promise for new methodologies aimed at fighting age and disease-related neurodegenerative processes.

Link: ScienceDaily